Meet the Maker (Grace Estate Winery)

414 West Main Street,Waynesboro VA 22980

29 September, 2022

Description

Join us for our first Meet the Maker event at The City Foxes. We are welcoming winemaker Robbie Corpora from Grace Estate Winery to City Foxes to talk about his winemaking process and to showcase several wines. Event is open to the public and free to attend. Tastings are free. Robbie's Stellar BIO My name is Robbie Corpora. I am new to the company (started in January of last year) and this is my second vintage with Grace Estate. While I am new here, I have actually been working in the Monticello AVA most of my life and helped my parents pioneer Afton Mountain Vineyards. So, I guess I am one of the few true second-generation growers working in this area. I am not sure that gives me a leg up or not…the climate always seems to have the final word. Following the sale of Afton in 2008, I stayed with the new owners Tony and Elizabeth Smith, continuing my role there until 2012. In 2013, I left Afton to manage Breaux Vineyards in Northern Virginia and to do some minor vineyard consulting. In 2014, I earned a position managing all aspects of wine production at a small vineyard in the Monticello AVA. It was in this previous role I was very fortunate to get a lot of exposure, both to a variety of great wines, but also great people in the winemaking world. Relying on much of the knowledge I gained during this period and the important influence of my mother, Shinko Corpora’s, wine philosophy, I have chosen to change production at Grace Estate with the goal to enhance the personality and the place of the wines. I have brought a new wine growing philosophy to the production here that focuses on the expression of our site and vintage rather than the production of a particular wine or a particular flavor. 2021 production was produced with spontaneous fermentations and other than sulfites, there are little to no additions of any kind. Whites are produced with inoculation of spontaneously fermented yeast mothers that are carefully proportioned to further enhance the qualities of the wine. Reds are spontaneously fermented, usually without inoculation, and are aged for long periods on lees in large format oak barrels. The large barrels are an important aspect to our production as they are less likely to mask the natural qualities of our wines, they allow a slower more delicate oxygenation/maturation, and impact the wine with a less perceptible oak character. With most of the industry modelled on Bordeaux and the use of small toasted barriques, we are attempting to step out of the norm. I believe the large “botte” are a critical component to allowing wines grown in our Virginia climate to sing. I didn’t always know what to expect but I think the results have accomplished the goals of growing wines unique and with strong personalities.