Forklifts are handling huge cubes of stacked cartons, industrial pumps stretch across the cement floor, a semi-tractor trailer idles off the side of the building, the Red Hot Chili Peppers blare through the warehouse—this could be an industrial work site, but in fact, it’s the tank room at Pollak Vineyards in Greenwood. It’s bottling time and about the last thing apparent in what will be a two day-long operation is the delicate nature of the 1,100 cases of white wine that will be prepped for shipping and sale.
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Asked at Thanksgiving what he’s grateful for, Jake Busching, general manager at Pollak Vineyards, where bottling was underway a couple of weeks ago, said, “Hydraulics.” |
To be a winemaker, says Pollak’s general manager and winemaker, Jake Busching, “you’ve got to have a lot of hats: plumber, forklift operator, mechanic is very important, strategist.” Architect comes to mind, too, when considering the size of the Landwirt Mobile Bottling truck that backs up to the tank room to transform tanked juice into elegantly bottled Viognier. Gary Simmers’ operation does more than bottle the wine. It’s corked, sealed and labeled, too. A dizzying assembly of belts and rotating parts and gas extractors and gluers extend through the length of the truck. Busching says it’s such an efficient way of handling the last stages of wine production for a winery of Pollak’s size (5,000 cases annually) that he and the owners, David and Margo Pollak, designed the tank room specifically to accommodate Landwirt.
While that’s an extra step many wineries haven’t taken, the volume of his business suggests Simmers is a crucial support to the area wine industry. He works with 64 wineries (some out of state) that pay a minimum $1,250 per day to bottle about 500 cases in that time. Now nearing retirement and preparing to turn the business over to a protégé, Simmers got into his line of work somewhat accidentally when, in the early 1980s, he wondered how he’d bottle the wine from his Shenandoah Valley vines. Inquiries of other growers suggested a small market for a mobile bottling unit. “In six months time, I had more than I could do,” he says, “and one year later I had to make a choice.”
Not that it’s just a plug-n-play situation. Early into the run, Busching bounds up a ladder to get inside the truck. “There’s something scratching the foils,” he informs Simmers, who turns the whole thing off to detect the problem. Add to Busching’s list of hats “quality control inspector.”
Busching fondly describes his wine-making philosophy as “the dirt perspective,” meaning that he came out of a farming background into this line of work. False modesty? Not sure, but the dirt guy managed, a few days after the ’09 whites were bottled, to earn a gold medal for his 2007 Cabernet Franc Reserve at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. “I love kicking CA butt!” he said via text message.
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Speaking of competitions, change is pending for the Virginia Governor’s Cup, an award traditionally announced at the Virginia Wine Expo, slated for February 26-28 in Richmond. While historically many state wineries have gone home with medals, provided that, beyond the matters of taste, structure, and balance in their product, they also have a requisite number of cases available for the public, only one winery can take home the big prize, the Governor’s Cup. This has pitted reds against whites, some would say, unfairly. Going forward in 2011, following a decision by the Virginia Wineries Association, there will be two Governor’s Cup winners—one white, one red.
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You know what they say when it comes to charity and earthquake victims: It takes a Cote de Nuits Villages. On Saturday evening, January 30 from 5 until 7:30 p.m., the Wine Guild of Charlottesville and Nicolas Mestre of Williams Corner Wine, a local importing company, will host a free tasting of rare and unusual wines. Though there is no admission fee, they’re hoping that you’ll feel sufficiently warmed by the libations to donate generously to the Haiti relief fund they’ll have set up. The line-up includes some rare beauties such as Grand Cru burgundies and a semi-vertical tasting from Gruaud Larose (Bordeaux) including 1975, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003. The event will be held on the top floor of Live Arts’ Water Street building. Send the Wine Guild your rsvp at wineguildcville@gmail.com.
