{"id":3897,"date":"2010-12-10T14:23:19","date_gmt":"2010-12-10T18:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/?p=3897"},"modified":"2011-02-25T15:22:56","modified_gmt":"2011-02-25T19:22:56","slug":"a-chat-with-jim-law-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/a-chat-with-jim-law-4\/","title":{"rendered":"A Chat with Jim Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Owner of Linden Vineyards Muses on the State of Virginia Wine<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Linden Vineyards<\/p><\/div>\n

If you are familiar with Virginia wine, Jim Law needs no introduction.\u00a0 He is arguably—but who would—the preeminent winemaker in the mid-Atlantic region.\u00a0 One is tempted to call him the East Coast elder statesman of wine but he might protest, saying, \u201cI\u2019m not that old.\u201d\u00a0 Which is true.<\/em><\/p>\n

Statesman or not, he is widely respected and increasingly at philosophical odds with what is unfolding in the Old Dominion\u2019s wine industry.\u00a0 Passionate to the point of creating an almost cult-like following, he has tacked hard into the winds of convention to take Virginia wine to a place many others in the state have neither the inclination nor dedication to go.<\/em><\/p>\n

On a cold December weekday, we sat in his quiet winery and spent an hour talking of vines and wines and his comfort level with the somewhat lonely path he has chosen to take while Virginia\u2019s wine boom unfolds around him. <\/em><\/p>\n

So how did it all begin?<\/strong>
\nI was an agricultural volunteer for the Peace Corps in the late \u201870s working in Zaire, now the Congo. I grew coffee, cocoa, rubber trees and assorted tropical fruits. Even as a very young man I loved farming.\u00a0 When I returned to the states, I was looking for opportunities to make a living working the land.\u00a0 I also enjoyed wine. A career in wine made sense. I moved to Virginia from my home in Ohio and fell in love with the mountains.\u00a0 In \u201981, I helped start a small, no longer operating, winery. I felt the best vineyard sites in the state were at higher elevations and steeply sloped, which led me to purchase this hardscrabble farm in 1983 and start Linden.\u00a0 At the time there were eight wineries in the state.\u00a0 Today there are some 180.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s dramatic growth.\u00a0 Is the pace sustainable?<\/strong>
\nIt depends.\u00a0 For smaller wineries where lifestyle and entertainment drives the business, the future is limitless. For serious winemaking the challenge is greater and the commensurate work more difficult.\u00a0 The enjoyment of running a small business drives the former but a commitment to quality and price motivates the latter.\u00a0 More pointedly, if you choose to compete with quality wines from around the world, you must be driven to make the best wine possible.\u00a0 Our proximity to the Washington, DC metro market and Virginia\u2019s tourism industry assures a steady stream of customers.\u00a0 But if wine tourism is feeding your business, the pressure to continually increase quality can be diminished.<\/p>\n

How many wineries in Virginia are focused exclusively on serious wine?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019d say about five percent.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong.\u00a0 Everyone wants to make good wine.\u00a0 But increasingly, I see tourism and entertainment trumping fine wine. If you are hosting large groups, weddings, bachelorette parties and other commercial activities, it does produce quick and steady revenue.\u00a0 But it takes a lot of discipline to keep your focus on both the vineyard and the cellar while managing an entertainment business.\u00a0 I believe one or the other will suffer from inattention.\u00a0 Usually it\u2019s the wine.<\/p>\n

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Jim Law Winter Pruning<\/p><\/div>\n

Your winery limits customer access to your deck and grounds unless they are members of your case club.\u00a0 Why so?<\/strong>
\nWell first of all, it\u2019s not as onerous as it sounds.\u00a0 If you buy just one case as a single purchase once a year, you become a member of the club.\u00a0 The reason for creating the club was to give my winery back to my loyal customers. I also stopped limos and buses from coming and limited the size of groups. I saw what was happening in the tasting room and on the grounds and I didn\u2019t like it. The crowds, the noise and on occasion the over drinking, was simply not Linden.\u00a0 Trust me, it hurt my business for awhile and it offended some people when I implemented the policy.\u00a0 On a more personal level, it stung all of us here to field disgruntled customer complaints and to read negative reviews on Yelp! and other web sites.<\/p>\n

But it worked. Today, a visit to Linden is a relaxing experience with wine as the central focus.\u00a0 I enjoy talking with people who are curious about wine even if they know little about it. I have a beautiful property with rolling views of mountains and vineyards.\u00a0 I want my guests to enjoy the full experience of wine in this quiet, pastoral setting.\u00a0 There are plenty of wineries where people can go to experience a party atmosphere.\u00a0 But it\u2019s not Linden.\u00a0 From a purely short term business perspective my decision had a negative impact on the bottom line.\u00a0 But in the long run I now have loyal customers who are happier and so are my staff and myself.<\/p>\n

Viognier is emerging as Virginia\u2019s white grape.\u00a0 Yet, you don\u2019t grow it or make it? Why?<\/strong>
\nBecause I am not a fan of Viognier.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t grow grapes unless I enjoy the wine produced from them.\u00a0 Virginia is doing very well with Viognier and it\u2019s good for the state and our reputation.\u00a0 But I love higher acidity, elegant and lower alcohol white wines and Viognier typically has the opposite profile. I prefer Old World wine styles and East Coast Viognier has a New World emphasis. If you are in the vineyard daily, growing the best fruit you are capable of, you have to look forward to enjoying the wine produced from that labor.<\/p>\n

Virginia is the fifth largest wine producing state in the nation.\u00a0 What can we learn from California, Washington, Oregon and New York?<\/strong>
\n\"\"We need to address the issue of variability. <\/strong>There are some excellent wines coming out of Virginia but there is also a substantial amount that could not earn national recognition.\u00a0 We need to increase the number of top tier wineries if we want to put Virginia on the Nation\u2019s wine map.\u00a0 To accomplish that we need to plant on steep slopes and in hardscrabble soils instead of fertile flatlands. Once a critical mass of quality wine is being produced, acclaim will follow. It\u2019s the only way to gain national attention.<\/p>\n

Has the state government been supportive of the industry?<\/strong>
\nYes, they\u2019ve been great.\u00a0 It can be a tough job at times for them trying to respond to the various pressure points from within the industry.\u00a0 But their overall efforts over the last thirty years have propelled us forward.<\/p>\n

Pet Peeve?<\/strong>
\nNone really.\u00a0 I\u2019ve reached the stage in my life where I\u2019ve made peace with most of the things that annoyed me years ago.\u00a0 One phenomenon I have a hard time understanding is the almost addiction-like focus on handheld gizmos.\u00a0 Cells phones and Blackberries are not only everywhere but are in constant use.\u00a0 A few months back I was gazing out my office window and noticed a group of guests at a picnic table with wine and lunch spread before them.\u00a0 Their heads were all bowed as if in quiet contemplation.\u00a0 I was touched to see them apparently praying before their meal. But looking closer, I realized everyone was thumbing away on their little devices, oblivious to their friends, the beautiful views and the wine and food. I think our culture is losing something when we can\u2019t let go of these crutches on occasion and enjoy the people and world around us.<\/p>\n

Closing Thoughts?<\/strong>
\nI love Virginia and how our wine culture has grown.\u00a0 It\u2019s been rewarding to be part of an industry that has met with such success.\u00a0 One thing I would like to see is more young winegrowers take the industry to the next level. I got into this business primarily because I love farming. It\u2019s driven everything I\u2019ve tried to accomplish at Linden. It really is an intellectual endeavor.\u00a0 To plant a vineyard, watch it mature, craft wine from its fruit and then share it with guests has created a satisfying life for me. I do not want to expand.\u00a0 Making more money is not going to make be a happier man.\u00a0 My business supports my passion.<\/p>\n

What would make me happier is for other winegrowers to pursue the quest for quality.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of the reasons I have an apprentice program. We have tremendous potential in the state.\u00a0 There are so many sites with good slope, but poor and well-drained soils, that are ideal for vine growing.\u00a0 Site selection is critically important to the production of fine wine.\u00a0 To select land because it\u2019s near major roads or has beautiful views might be a great business decision but it\u2019s not necessarily a great wine decision.<\/p>\n

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Linden Vineyards<\/p><\/div>\n

Published in the December 10, 2010 edition of the Fauquier Times-Democrat.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Owner of Linden Vineyards Muses on the State of Virginia Wine If you are familiar with Virginia wine, Jim Law needs no introduction.\u00a0 He is arguably—but who would—the preeminent winemaker in the mid-Atlantic region.\u00a0 One is tempted to call him the East Coast elder statesman of wine but he might protest, saying, \u201cI\u2019m not that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[222,16,90,89,223,242],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n