Let us put aside talk of downsizing for $100 million and selling some of the silver to listen to Patricia Kluge, proprietor of Kluge Winery and Vineyard, reflect on 10 years in the Virginia wine industry, from a posting today by Luxist:
"To enter into the wine business with anything less than 100 percent commitment, the utmost passion and excitement never crossed my mind," she says. Indeed, Kluge Winery has 220 acres under vine at this point, a seven-fold expansion from the 30 originally planted.
"My new goal is to see our wines available in all 50 states." Kluge is no stranger to huge ambitions. Recall that Fuel would be, by her lights, the first bistro-gas station concept to sweep the nation. There was also the idea that Vineyard Estates, to be built by-rights on her Albemarle acreage, would be the definitive turnkey estate subdivision. And lately, there’s her pitch to pocket $100 million for her 45-room estate, complete with croquet lawn. So why wouldn’t she want to see Kluge wines on tables from sea to shining sea?
"In addition to growing our brands we aspire to improve in viticulture and enology, as consistency and quality are critical, and to open new markets in China, India and Europe." See above.
But it’s not all work and no play for Mrs. K. She kicked back on New Year’s Eve with a bottle of Kluge SP Blanc de Blanc 2003, what she calls "a spectacular sparkling and the best vintage of the decade." That wine was produced by Claude Thibaut, who has gone on to great acclaim of his own, after the kind of quick departure that has become legion at Kluge, in his case in 2005.
