or with less labor. I am trying to make great wine, with no other motives. We have twenty acres under vine and produce about 4,000 cases per year. At this level, I can be closely involved in all the vineyard and winemaking activities, doing much (but certainly not all) of it myself. If we were any bigger, I would have to spend way too much time answering e-mails and not enough time in the vineyard. Wine has played an important role for me. Te more interested I get, the more it expands. I’ll never know it all, but the journey is fun and rewarding and improves life.” A look at the awards list for the Viognier proves that Walsh is on the right road.

On the Sunset Hills blog, Walsh asserts

that, “Viognier is a difficult grape to grow and is sometimes referred to as a ‘shy’ grape. It is prone to mildew, gives varying and often quite low yields, and requires a long growing season. But the fact that Viognier is a less vigorous grape is a good thing here in Virginia because Viognier holds up beautifully against Virginia’s rainy falls. While some grapes can take up to

a week or more to recover from an inch or two of rain, Viognier bounces back in no time, giving us consistently ripe grapes. Viognier is on its way to becoming known as the Virginia varietal, and we’re excited that our ’09 Viognier is helping lead the way.”

Growing grapes in Virginia, above. The “tank room” at Sunset Hills, below.

19 www.artizenmagazine.com