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CO VER S T OR Y TECHNICAL REVIEW Sunny Site + Gravity Flow = Quality Pinot Noir Blair Vineyards in southeastern Pennsylvania meets challenges of Eastern winegrowing By Linda Jones McKee Grapes arrive at the top level of Blair vineyards and drop into the press or fermentors on the second level. do: He planted the family farm. In his case, however, the family had 300 acres of farmland in the foothills of southeastern Pennsylvania. "Unfortunately, not much of the land was suitable for quality grape- growing," Blair told Wines & Vines. "The slopes weren't right, and too much was northeast facing." W In 1998 he planted 8 acres of wine- grapes high on a hillside at 1,050 feet— and, most importantly, facing south. He put in varieties appropriate for cooler Pennsylvania sites: Pinot Gris, Chardon- nay and (his personal favorite) Pinot Noir. What he didn't realize at the time was that while his hillside Rockland Vine- yard faced the right direction, the woods surrounding it limited the amount of sunshine available to the grapes. Initially Blair sold some of his grapes, and then in 2004 he opened a small winery at the Rockland Vineyard. He 28 Wines & Vines MARCH 2012 hen Richard Blair discovered Pinot Noir and became inspired to grow grapes that would make a great wine, he did what many people might have stayed right where he was with a small winery and 8 acres of vines, but his eldest daughter, Missy, had also been bitten by the wine industry bug. She encouraged Blair to find a vineyard site that would allow the winery to expand in the future. "I definitely learned it is best to find the site for growing quality grapes and not to plant the farm," Blair says with a smile. Greenwich vineyard He made numerous trips to France— especially Burgundy—and to Oregon to learn from growers and winemakers working with Pinot Noir and other grapes in somewhat cool and cloudy environ- ments. "I came back from trips to Oregon in 2005 and 2006 knowing what I needed to find," Blair stated. He placed an ad in a local farming publication for sloping farmland that faced south. While he had several responses, most farmers seemed somewhat directionally challenged, and the land available was definitely not fac- ing south. When Blair first saw the property he would eventually buy, it was covered in a half-foot of snow. After searching the Internet for geologic and weather data, taking soil samples and appraising its viability for growing grapes, Blair bought 35 acres in April 2007. The land now known as the Greenwich Vineyard (pro- nounced the Pennsylvania Dutch way: "Green-witch") was 300 feet lower than Blair's home vineyard, totally open with no woods, and the 10°-15° slopes faced southeast, south and southwest. Blair firmly believes that sites like his Greenwich Vineyard bring out the quality of the grapes. "It's not just the growing- degree days," he states. "It's all about the increased amount of sunshine from early morning to late afternoon. If you can find a good site for Pinot Noir, I think we can do remarkable things with Pinot Noir on the East Coast." By May he had planted 10 acres, and has added approximately 5 acres each year since then. A total of 23 acres are now planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Caber- net Franc, Syrah and Pinot Noir, and he is considering planting some Sauvignon Blanc this year.