The Thinkings of a Winemaker

 Chardonnay was the one of the first varieties planted in our vineyard back in 1973.  Things were different back then--the row spacing was 12 feet, vines were planted 8 feet apart.  The clone was called "Wente" and followed soon thereafter with Martini.  We still have some of these old vines out in Block Two. When my predecessor John Crouch first arrived here in 1978, he assumed he would be making Rieslings and sparkling wines.  Back then, no one expected Pennsylvania to make anything but light, crisp wines.  The trail from that point to the 2017 Chardonnay is a long and winding one, surprising yet inevitable. Over time, vines succumb to the other pressures of growing grapes here in the East.  Our colder winters, winds, fungal diseases, and other pests mean that the average lifespan of our vines isn't quite what it would be if we were in more temperate climes.  As the vines die, we replace them, but not always with the exact same clone.  Over time, we added in the Colmar