The old saying states that ‘great wine is made in the vineyard, not in the cellar.’

The old saying states that ‘great wine is made in the vineyard, not in the cellar.’ Perhaps this is said because growers have little control over nature. As winegrowers and winemakers, the challenge is to harmonize with nature and to understand what the wine can be given the terroir. The winemaker’s choices begin in the vineyard, starting with the selection of grapes and the manner in which they should be farmed.

Grapes in their wild state become a tangle of trunks and canes, producing poor quality of fruit.

Grapevines are subjected to training and pruning to ensure that each plant gets enough sunlight, soil moisture, and nutrients. Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard does all of this by hand, which proves to be the best method for yielding high-quality fruit.

Testing the red-clay soil, rich with minerals, giving attention to each rootstock and to each graft, Kluge Estate makes sure that the grapes are harvested at their freshest and ripest point. The character and flavor of future wine depends on soil and weather conditions as well. That is why the grape rows are strategically oriented to capture every moment of sunlight.

Overlooking Monticello and Thomas Jefferson’s first vineyards, Kluge Estate Vineyard contains 50 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Chardonnay and will be exapnding its acreage each year.