Journal
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The Day Chambourcin Answered the Question
On a warm June afternoon in 2026, six bottles were placed on a tasting table at Hiddencroft Vineyards. There was nothing particularly unusual about the bottles themselves. No elaborate labels. No grand proclamations. No promises. Just six Chambourcin wines: 2012, 2014, 2015, 2015 Reserve, 2016, and 2017. The oldest fruit had been harvested fourteen years earlier. Each wine had spent between four and eight years in barrel before spending additional years in bottle. By modern standards, such treatment borders on neglect. Most wineries would have released the wines years earlier. Most consumers would assume that so much time would surely diminish them. But wine has a way of ignoring assumptions.…
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A Challenging Start to the 2026 Growing Season
Every vineyard season tells a different story, and 2026 is shaping up to be one of the more challenging growing seasons we have experienced since planting our first vines in 2001. A combination of factors has affected vineyards throughout our region, and Hiddencroft has not been immune. Last season, our vines endured unusually heavy pressure from Spotted Lantern Flies. While the insects rarely kill established grapevines outright, large populations can weaken vines by feeding on their sap late into the growing season. Many of our vines entered winter under greater stress than normal. Winter then delivered another challenge. Several periods of exceptionally cold temperatures caused more vine injury and vine…
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The Day Chambourcin Answered the Question
