New Wines Coming Your Way: August Bottling 2022
Our Production Team wrapped up another successful bottling of five Jolene Family Winery wines on August 4-5, 2022. We’re looking forward to sharing these new vintages of Cabernet Franc, Merlot Rosé, Pinot Grigio, and our Family Red blend with you.
In addition to these Tasting Room favorites, we added a new wine to our summer-inspired Vasara Series. Read below to learn more about the bottling process, our wines, and answers to your Frequently Asked Questions.
A TOUR OF THE ASSEMBLY LINE
Bottling Days begin early at Jolene Family Winery! Our staff and team of volunteers arrive at 7:30am and work until the afternoon or early evening.
We start the process by connecting our stainless steel tanks to a bottling truck from Wine & Beer Supply through a winding, food-safe hose. We also make sure we have everything we need for the assembly line, including: boxes, bottles, labels, tape, and a dated stamp.
Once we have the wine ready to go, our team places new bottles onto the start of the truck’s conveyor belt. These are then transported down the line and filled with wine. Pictured here are Strawberry: Vasara and Pinot Grigio bottles.
Next up: the bottles are either corked (Cabernet Franc and Family Red) or capped with a screw top (Merlot Rosé, Pinot Grigio, and Vasara: Strawberry). These are then sent down the line to be labeled.
Our bottles are now ready to go! At this point they reach the end of the line and are packaged in a 12 bottle case; our team then labels and dates these cases and transfers them to a pallet for storage.
That’s a wrap! Each of these cases will be stored in our temperature controlled cellar and taste tested regularly by our Production Team before being released to our Tasting Room.
SPOTLIGHT ON OUR RECENTLY BOTTLED WINES
CABERNET FRANC
Our last vintage of Cabernet Franc (2019) was awarded a Gold Medal from the 2022 Virginia Governor’s Cup. Produced with 100% Cabernet Franc grapes, this dry red is a perfect pairing for hearty meats and chocolate. Our guiding philosophy was to craft a Cabernet Franc that would showcase the rich cherry, spice, and roasted coffee bean characteristics that make this variety so popular.
PINOT GRIGIO
This wine shines with fresh seafood dishes, especially when grilled. Produced with 100% Pinot Grigio grapes, our driest white also pairs with salty foods like dried Italian meats and crab cakes. The winemaker aimed to create a clean, crisp Italian-style Pinot Grigio with subtle hints of citrus and mineral. This wine provides a refreshing finish, which both cleans the palate and stimulates your taste buds. Our last vintage of Pinot Grigio was awarded a Silver Medal at the 2022 Virginia Governor’s Cup.
FAMILY RED
Our winemaker wanted to create a wine that celebrates two of Virginia’s great varietals – Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon (in addition to Chambourcin, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Nebbiolo, and Petit Verdot). Merlot grapes were chosen for color and a fruit-forward focus, while Cabernet Sauvignon provides structure, balance, and exquisite tannins. Dark fruit characteristics such as black currant and cherry often prevail in this blend, with a long finish and notes of smoke and vanilla.
MERLOT ROSÉ
Our rosé offers rejuvenation and freshness in a glass! Rose petals and honeysuckle dominate the aroma of our current vintage, while a flavorful palate of light blueberry, honey, and peach pushes forth. This wine’s jewel-tone color results from limited contact with Merlot grape skins before it is pressed and fermented in stainless steel. Our last vintage of Merlot Rosé was awarded a Silver Medal at the 2022 Virginia Governor’s Cup.
VASARA SERIES: STRAWBERRY
Strawberry, strawberry, strawberry! We are proud to expand our beloved Vasara Series, which includes our fan favorite Vasara: Peach, with the addition of a Strawberry Rosé wine made with natural strawberry flavor. This wine is sunshine in a bottle! Our series was named Vasara, which means summer in Lithuanian, to pay homage to the Mikelaites’ ancestral roots; our Strawberry Vasara also instantly evokes fond memories of their endless summers spent on Jolene Family Winery’s property dating back to the late 1960s.
FAQ About Bottling
WHEN WILL THESE NEW WINES BE RELEASED?
As wine travels from a tank into a bottle, this process can sometimes result in a less aromatic and flavorful experience if the wine was to be consumed right away. Termed bottle shock, this happens to most wines when there is an extended disturbance (as in the case of bottling or shipping), but is not a permanent feature of newly bottled wine. To ensure our guests experience our wine at its highest quality, we wait to release each bottle until it has been approved after a series of taste tests by our Winemaker and Production Team. This waiting period can take anywhere from an average of 30 days to several months, depending on the wine’s character and composition.
Each of these five wines will have a unique release date, so be sure to keep an eye out for upcoming announcements on our social media and website.
CAN WE SEE THIS PROCESS UP CLOSE?
We often have requests on social media to see the bottling truck up close and in person. We unfortunately do not offer tours of the truck at this time, in part because the space in which we work is not conducive to walkthroughs. We do offer opportunities for Wine Club Members to volunteer with our Production Team during bottling, which allows an inside look into our process.
WHERE ARE YOUR GRAPES GROWN?
You can see the vineyard where our Chardonel grapes are grown from our Tasting Room. Our winery also grows several varietals at Mikelaites Laurel Vineyards in New Kent, Virginia, including: Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin, and Norton. We grow additional grapes at other vineyards across the state of Virginia. Harvest season is approaching, so be sure to check back in with our next blog to learn more about that stage of our winemaking process.
THANK YOU TO OUR WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS
We would like to thank our team of volunteers who made our last bottling possible! A special shoutout goes to Trav, Skip, Cindee, Star, Ashley, Buz, Mark, Ellen, Brigitte, Harley, and Suzanne for their help. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Interested in volunteering with us in the future? We are excited to offer experiences for our Wine Club Members to take part in this process. Keep an eye out for future volunteer opportunities in upcoming Wine Club newsletters or learn more about our joining our Wine Club here.
