Life at Iron Hub Winery – Winter 2023
As we begin the New Year at Iron Hub, we first want to share the highlights from the previous year! The 2022 harvest was a great success for our Iron Hub team. Though the vines yielded less than half of the normal fruit, the wine produced had exceptional quality composed of bright rich flavors and full-bodied tannins. In our tasting room, we released our new red blend, Triad, and enjoyed several club happy hour gatherings watching the sunset over the Shenandoah Valley. Our family also grew with our new puppy Brix, who loves spending every moment in the vineyard!
We also began a new arrangement on our website so it is now possible to ship to 40+ states. It is exciting to provide a service that allows Iron Hub to be shared almost everywhere! Please visit our website on the “buy wine + gear” page for ordering details.
Our estate vineyards are primarily dry-farmed, meaning we rely on Mother Nature for irrigation. Recent winter storms have replenished the water table in the soil, which is essential for the vines in the upcoming growing season. The winter has yielded nearly 30 inches of rainfall on our estate since October 1st! Sections of our vineyards have turned into temporary creeks! Though the vines are currently dormant, our ground cover crops such as clovers and mustard are beginning to sprout! Iron Hub implements a sustainable approach to fertilizing our vines. Instead of using chemicals, we rely on legumes to naturally replenish Nitrogen in the soils. Spencer evaluates each vineyard block based on vine vigor and health, which will determine the cover crop seed for the upcoming growing season. The vines will soon be hand pruned marking the beginning of the new growing season. Hopefully, the vines themselves will remain dormant until early April, when the potential for frost damage has passed, fingers crossed!
Winter is an especially busy season for our father-son winemaking team at Iron Hub. Spencer is happy to be working full-time with his father in the cellar and learning Tom’s approach to winemaking. During the last month, Spencer blended the 2022 vintage and racked the young wine into barrels, to begin the aging process. Spencer states, “I am beginning to become more involved with the vinification process, and my father is my mentor, guiding me as we plan each day. It is hard work, but extremely gratifying once you taste your blend in the barrel.”