THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 25, 1996 TAG: 9609240060
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY REID BARROW, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 132 lines
LEAF BY LEAF, bunch by bunch, grape by grape, David Martin coaxes wine from the fruit of his vines in Knotts Island, N.C.
Under Martin's care, individual leaves are plucked from the vines to allow just the right amount of sun to warm each bunch of grapes. One at a time, bunches are culled from the vines to allow the grapes left behind to develop more sugar.
As each bunch is picked, Martin and his girlfriend, Jeannie Oakes, check for rotten grapes, which they pinch off, one by one, before dropping the bunches in a waxed peach carton at their feet.
``You tend them like they're your babies,'' Martin says.
At Martin's vineyard, crushing, pressing, bottling and corking are also finished by hand.
Last spring, Martin released his first wines, the climax of a 10-year dream. So far, the tiny winery has produced about 600 cases, a drop in the bucket when you consider that an annual production of 63,000 cases is thought of as small by Napa, Calif., standards.
The Martin Vineyard wine list includes cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay and muscadine. A Bordeaux-style blend, called Fruitville Red, is named for Fruitville, the Knotts Island township where the winery is located. Bay Orchard Peach and Bay Orchard Apple are wines made from Martin Orchard peaches and apples.
For years folks have traveled to the Martin family's pick-your-own orchard, an idyllic spot on the shores of Knotts Island Bay, to pick peaches, apples and scuppernong grapes.
Now that David Martin's dream has come true, the farm, known today as Martin Orchard and Vineyard, can lay claim to ``estate-bottled wines.''
``At first the family thought I was crazy,'' Martin says, ``but then they started tasting it.''
Pickers also can taste Martin's wine and go home with a bottle or a case. Retail sales are conducted from a tasting room overlooking the water. The vineyard does not have a wholesale license yet.
``We're seeing how well it sells in the tasting room,'' Martin said.
Picnic tables outside invite folks to make a day of it. They can pick, taste and then enjoy the ambience of this remote little island-peninsula that is shared by North Carolina's Currituck County and Virginia Beach.
The locals appreciate the muscadine wine, Martin says, which tastes just like the scuppernong grape from which it is made.
``A lot of people drink sweet wines in this area,'' he said.
Scuppernong, a member of the muscadine family of grapes, has a long history on the mid-Atlantic coast. Traditionally folks in coastal Virginia and North Carolina grew the big, sweet grapes in their yards for eating and for making batches of homemade wine.
In fact, Martin, who grew up eating scuppernongs, cut his teeth on the grapes in more ways than one. His father, Bill Martin, raised the grapes for the pick-your-own trade, and as a youngster, David Martin enjoyed working in the vineyard.
``Out of seven children, I was the one who had the affinity for the grapes,'' he said.
In 1987 Martin began consulting with vineyard owners in the Charlottesville area and experimenting with European grapes. Although flat compared to Charlottesville wine country, the Martin farm is on the highest ground in Knotts Island, and there's plenty of earth for the grape's deep-growing roots, Martin says. He discovered the area had other things going for it, too.
Cabernet grapes prefer sandy soil and Knotts Island has plenty of it. The island's climate is warmer in winter and cooler in summer, moderated by the bay to the east, the North Landing River to the west and Currituck Sound to the south. In less moderate climates, a cold winter could kill a merlot crop, Martin says.
In addition, a fairly constant ocean breeze blows across Knotts Island Bay, cutting down on mildew and bunch rot, Martin says.
The drawback is that the Knotts Island summer nights cool down like mountain nights. Cool nights slow down the ripening process.
``The longer the grapes hang on the vine, the sweeter they become,'' Martin says.
The one trait a winemaker needs more than any other is patience. ``The biggest mistake you can make is picking too early,'' he says. ``I'm just learning how long you can leave them hanging, the best techniques for each wine.''
One day recently, Martin and Oakes were out harvesting the densely laden cabernet sauvignon bunches and loading them into the back of a pickup truck.
Hunter, a black labrador retriever, barked for grape treats.
``Picking is the fun part,'' Martin says. ``The work is tending these grapes in summer.''
``Tending'' ranges from installing netting on every row to keep the birds out, to thinning leaves, shoots and bunches. The tops and sides of the vines also are trimmed like a hedge three times a season with a power trimmer. Another pruning is done each winter.
After picking, Martin and Oakes carry the grapes back to the winery where the grapes are crushed, pressed and aged.
The bladder press is as close to mechanization as Martin comes. Hooked to a water hose, the big rubber bladder expands in an oak basket to force juice from the crushed grapes into a container below. The remaining skins and seeds are dumped around grape vines as mulch.
``You return everything to the vineyard,'' Martin says.
All the wines are bottled with a gravity-flow bottling gun and corked with a manual floor corker. Pressure-sensitive labels are individually applied and heat-shrink capsules are wrapped around the bottle tops with a heat-shrink gun.
Shiny gold, burgundy and blue labels gleam from the wine racks in the tasting room.
David Martin's babies, all grown up. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
Photos by CHARLIE MEADS
The Virginian-Pilot
David Martin
Jeannie Oakes
Vp Map
CHARLIE MEADS
The Virginian-Pilot
David Martin examines a bunch of merlot grapes just off the vine at
his Knotts Island vineyard.
Jeannie Oakes cranks the masher at Martin Vineyard, where much of
the wine making is done by hand.
MARTIN ORCHARD AND VINEYARD
Address: Martin Farm Lane, Knotts Island, N.C. (919) 429-3542
Tasting hours: Noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through
Christmas. Weekdays by appointment.
Directions: From Virginia Beach, take Princess Anne Road through
Pungo to Creeds, across the Knotts Island Causeway. Follow signs to
Martin Orchard and Vineyard. From North Carolina, take U.S. Route
168 to the Currituck Sound Ferry to Knotts Island. (The ferry is
free; call (800) BY FERRY for schedule.) Follow N.C. Route 615 north
2.7 miles to Martin Farm Lane. by CNB