Media chatter

Our new Great Room
Come visit our new Great Room. Plan your next visit to our lovely vineyard. Taste excellent wines, receive personal service, and escape the large crowds in a boutique setting that is inviting and relaxing.

Excited about our wins at the Atlantic Seaboard Competition
We were so excited to receive 14 medals at the Alantic Seaboard Competition. In addition to the 14 medals, 2 of our wines won best of catagory. Best White Hybrid Other, and Best Port.
This competition covers the entire Atlantic Seaboard (17 states) so a very exciting win.

The great room
This space hold about 40 people We have 4 dining tables that hold 6 for a total of 24 seats. Additional seating in two separate living room groups and several other seats. This is such an upscale setting with beautiful French doors that line the entire wall looking out to our gravel patio with trees. The large stone fireplace warms the room with a crackling fire that only a real fireplace can do This room has pleanty of room for your guests and decorated with many old antique pieces Please contact info@briedevineyards.com or call 540-664-2048 to book your special event

Our Expansion
We are very excited to share with you our improvement in our facility.
Here is a sneak preview!!!!!
As you all know, we are, and will continue to be a small boutique winery. In that mindset, many of the rooms we are adding are for the operation of the vineyard, wine making area (paul is making some fun Cayuga Rye), storage which is huge for us as we have lots of our wine being stored off site, but we didn't forget about you....our customers.
We have expanded our space with a huge 5' fireplace where you can sit and sip on our fabulous wines. This space will allow for larger groups and some dining tables as opposed to our comfortable living room atmosphere. We think you are going to like our French Country Space with some lovely antiques to adorn the tasting room. Stop by to take a peak on where we are, follow our progress. Our completion should be with the next 30-60 days.
All the very best this holiday season.
Paul & Loretta Briede

Vineyard tours by wheels
Come join us and visit our vineyard by wheels.
Too hot to walk, or maybe you want to sip on a glass of wine while the vineyard comes to you Please call 540-664-2048 to make your reservation for an up close and personal tour hosted by vineyard owner Loretta Briede. We can seat 3 people maximum, but can always take a second tour.
$15/per person. Club members are for free.
Lean about the vines, our history, taste the grapes, and experience a hands on tour of our vines. This makes a fun gift or outing. Book your reservation today.
We are an operating farm, and sometimes the vineyards tours are closed to the public, so please be sure to make your reservation by calling 540-664-2048 to book your ride.
Cheers

Veraison in the Vineyard
Veraison in the Vineyard
This gowing season started with a fair amount of rain. It has now moved to mostly dry. We have had about 1.1 inches in the past month. Normal would be about 3.5.
We planted an additional 600 vines (300 marquette, 300 Chambourcin) this spring. Thankfully we installed a watering system. After so many years of carting hoses around through the vineyard we decided to just install the irrigation system.
Due to late spring freezing our crop loads are down. Arandell picked up some Scale and now in recovery. We have treated the infestation and the vines are looking great.
With the expected hurricane season predicted to produce more hurricanes this year than ever, we do expect to see some bands of rain coming this way. Harvest is a time when you want little rain, dry concentrated fruit produces excellent wines. We shall see how the month of August developes.

Vineyard update
The vineyard had some early rains during the spring with a damaging freeze in April. The temperature dipped to 28 degrees. It seems typical every year that this low lying area gets hit with freezing tempatures during bud break. To respond to this issue we decided to add more grapes utilizing our back field which has a higher elevation. We planted 600 more vines. (300 Marquette and 300 Chambourcin). Chambourcin is new to our vineyard and we are excited to see how it does at our location.
It will take 3 years before we see fruit from this planting. We expect a yield of about 1 1/2 tons per varietal.

Julia Harding/Jancis Robinson reviews
We are very fortunate to have 6 of our wines reviewed by this world renowned wine critic. Your wine is being compared and evaluated on a World Stage. She has tasted so many wines and has an experience and value that not many have.. She is very well respected in the wine industry. These are Virginia wines. What better way to see how we are doing as a winery as a whole. We were thrilled to received a producer score of 16.3 (Superior to Distinquished)
Average producer score
Briedé Family Vineyards
16.3
Sparkling Winchester 2020 16.5 rating
Made from Cayuga White (a complex hybrid selected in New York in 1052 and released in 1972), traditional method, aged three years on the lees. Dosage just 2 g/l. pH 3.15.
The citrus, herbal and green-fruits aroma dominates the nose so that the yeasty autolytic character is subtle. It was quite frothy when first poured but settled down in the glass to a fine mousse and a much more obvious toasty character. There's a slight sweet-sour impression on the finish even though the residual sweetness is so low. Packed with fruit but it's in balance with the traditional-method complexity from the yeast lees. Impressive for a hybrid variety, which has benefited from being taken seriously in the winery, with the investment needed for long lees ageing. (JH)
Marquette 2022 16.0 Rating
Full bottle 1,140 g. This is the first time I have tasted Marquette, a complex hybrid created in 1989 in Minnesota. Aged 9 months in French oak.
Lightish cherry red and vibrant cherry and strawberry fruit on the nose. Just slightly herbal and delicately floral – nicely so. Light-bodied with lively red fruits and very gentle tannins. Fresh and refreshing. A really nice surprise with no really obvious hybrid notes except perhaps at the very end when there is something strawberry like. Excellent freshness on the finish. Juicy and mouth-watering. (JH)
Soleil d'Ovest 2022 16.0 rating
Full screwcapped bottle 1,151 g. Cool fermentation and ageing in stainless steel. This is a cold-hardy hybrid bred in Minnesota in 1988 and released in 2022. This interspecific hybrid includes 45% Vitis vinifera, 28% Vitis riparia, and less than 10% each of Vitis rupestris, Vitis labrusca and Vitis aestivalis.
Intense, ripe tropical fruits on the nose with a hint of roses giving it a floral aspect – smells a little like Gewürztraminer. Ripe on the palate, too, highly scented, with a citrus freshness balancing those tropical fruit flavours and rose-petal notes. Much higher acidity than on a Gewürz, which makes this easy and refreshing. Really nicely made to bring out all the attributes of this variety to give a refreshing yet flavourful white with intensity and surprising length. I can imagine this variety might also be good in a blend as it is quite intense. Not for keeping, though. (Though perhaps I will be proved wrong.) (JH)
Arandell 2020 16.0 rating
Full bottle 1,230 g. Arandell is a 1995 cross between two interspecific hybrid selections bred at Cornell University and released in 2013. Briedé Family are the only producers of a varietal wine, starting in 2017. Hand-harvested, aged in French oak. pH 3.75. 180 cases produced.
The colour of black-cherry skins. Subtle oak aroma along with the blackberry fruit, a touch of cedar and lead pencil reminiscent of Cabernet Franc. The acidity seems quite high and not fully integrated but it is just balanced by the fruit, and the tannins are really fine. Clean-cut fruit and a juicy, mouth-watering finish. (JH)
Speed of Sound 2019 16.5 Rating
Full bottle 1,256 g. 50% Tannat (Virginia grown) and 50% Arandell (estate grown). Hand-harvested, aged in French oak. pH 3.65. 27 cases produced.
Very deep crimson. A little hint of oak on the nose but smells richer and darker-fruited than the 100% Arandell 2020. Extremely moreish and better balanced that the Arandell, with the acidity more fully integrated and with deeper fruit flavours. A very successful blend. Harmonious, fresh, with definite yet smooth and refined tannins. I enjoyed even more very slightly cool. (JH)
Arandell 2019 16.5 Rating
his is a new variety bred at Cornell University and released in 2013 – too new to appear in Wine Grapes. According to the release notice, 'Arandell was developed at Cornell University’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY, from a cross between two interspecific hybrid selections. The cross was made in 1995, and 23 disease-resistant seedlings were selected and planted in 1997. Only one, originally called NY95.0301.01, was selected for propagation and further testing in 2001.' It has a high degree of disease resistance. Briedé Family are the only producers of a varietal wine, starting in 2017. They have 750 plants. Two weeks warm ferment before ageing 8 months in neutral French oak. This vintage was made by Nate Walsh, the head of the Virginia Vineyards Association. 2019 was a apparently a very good year in Virginia. The wine recently won a silver medal at California's international Sommelier Challenge competition. pH 3.65, TA 6.45 g/l.
Very dark cherry red. Attractive aroma of tangy dark-red fruits with a nice layer rather like stone dust. Smells fresh and lightly peppery with a touch of capsicum. Not unlike Cabernet Franc. Lively and fresh. Plenty of that juicy dark-red fruit on the palate and very well balanced. it is all about the fruit, the oak not really showing here except perhaps in the way it has rounded the tannins. Tannins are smooth but definite. Lively, pure and vibrant, with a long cherry-fruited finish but without the sweetness of cherry. Extremely impressive for a new, disease-resistant hybrid. Bravo! (JH)