A conversation with BRAD HANSEN of Prince Michel Vineyard & Winery

JUST AS A CHEF CREATES RELATIONSHIPS with farmers and artisans to ensure he’s getting the best ingredients, winemaker Brad Hansen partners with area grape growers and French coopers to obtain the best possible fruit and barrels. “It’s almost a partnership with our growers,” Hansen says. “They have a vested interest in producing the best quality grapes. I’m real proud of the growers we have.”

Hansen joined the Madison County winery in 1999, a full-circle moment, after attending high school in the Maryland-D.C. area but heading farther south for an undergraduate degree in plant biochemistry, a masters’ in food science, and then to work at a winery in Georgia. Eventually he came back, to be closer to family. And we’re glad he did, because he’s taught us a thing or 20 about crafting great wines.

Edible Blue Ridge: You have such strong connections with your growers. How does your collection of single-origin wines come into play?

Brad Hansen: Usually to make the best wine, you blend for the best harmony. But when something in the cellar is showing really high quality, it’s fun to showcase that one variety from one vineyard all by itself. And those wines are what we call Vineyard Designates; they’re really quite unique.

EBR: But you still produce blends?

Hansen: Symbius is our proprietary blend of reds and takes the longest to produce. It requires a specific set of barrel characteristics. We’ll go through and take a sample from every barrel. There might be 100 to 200 glasses on the table; we blind taste and come up with the best blend. Some years it may be cabernet franc or cabernet sauvignon—each year it’s different.

EBR: If you require a certain type of barrel, how and where do you find it?

Hansen: Barrels are a very important aspect of certain wine blends. The red grapes have a lot of tannin, which is perceived as astringent and dries the tongue. The soft tannins in the oak allow us to soften the wine. We like barrels made from specific forests in France and Hungary. The resulting wines aren’t heavy on the oak. I’d rather have the fruit and structure of the wine come through.

EBR: How much impact do the barrels really make?

Hansen: You can taste the difference in barrels made from trees growing a couple miles from each other. Age of the tree, the way the oak is treated, how long it’s seasoned outside all play a part. If you think there are lots of details in making wine, there are even more in making barrels.

EBR: In that same way, do the grapes from one vineyard differ from those of another?

Hansen: It’s remarkable that a mile or two apart can be the same merlot grape, but with altogether different qualities. For example, if a hill is facing southeast, it’s getting a certain amount of sunlight. Compare that to one facing west, getting afternoon sun. That will produce a great difference in flavor, color, and aroma. Not to mention the timing as to when it will ripen.

EBR: You’re crazy busy during the fall harvest. So what do you do in the spring?

Hansen: There’s still plenty to do. Much of this spring is about bottling the 2009 wines, a process fraught with anxiety. During harvest and fermentation we have some flexibility, but bottling—that’s it. That’s the last place to influence the wine before the customer gets it. It has to be bright, the labels have to go on straight—there are a million things to juggle.

EBR: With all that pressure, what qualities does a good winemaker need?

Hansen: We have a common drive to make something we feel is the best we can make it, and hope everyone else out there agrees. You have to have exacting standards, but be flexible. There’s nothing like a Virginia harvest to instill flexibility in a winemaker.

EBR: What about patience?

Hansen: In this industry, you get one year to harvest it just right, make it just right. If something goes wrong, you have to wait another 12 months to start over. We grow old in this industry watching those barrels: three years from vine to shelf. It’s not for someone who is impatient.

EBR: On a personal note, what wine do you like to drink?

Hansen: During the winter, the petit verdot was tasting wonderful, with dark, deep blueberry qualities. Springtime comes around and I switch to pinot grigio. In spring and summer, it’s like my lemonade.

For more, go to princemichel.com.