This Saturday I joined Jason Murray of Arterra Wines for a fall wine release/vineyard tour of Seven Oaks, his main satellite vineyard. Joining us was Seven Oaks owners Mark and Madeline Skinner.

For those unfamiliar with Arterra, Jason is a huge proponent of low-intervention winemaking. I’d go so far to call it ‘ultra-low’ intervention, given his focus on using only natural yeast fermentation and basically allowing his wines to decide ‘what they want to be’ rather than force them into a certain direction.

The result is Jason produces wine that, if you tasted them blind in a lineup, you can always tell which are his. During the tour he explained, “I like wine that’s distinctive, that doesn’t taste like every other wine”. All his wines are made to be variety-specific or vineyard-specific.

Arterra’s estate vineyard provides most of their fruit. But since 2005 he’s also partnered with the Skinners to grow wine at their home in the town of Philomont (roughly halfway between Middleburg and Purcellville). Today, Seven Oaks Vineyard has 8.5 acres under vine.

When we got started, Mark and Jason gave us the low-down of the property.

It turns out the farm is historic, going back to colonial times when Lord Fairfax was sub-dividing his land grant into different segments (driving in you pass a sign that says “Seven Oaks Circa 1795”). You wouldn’t know by looking at it, but the main house started as a log cabin and was repeatedly expanded upon over time.

The land was purchased years back by Mark’s father Ben Skinner, a retired Marine Corps aviator who wanted a place away from the city. It’s also really, really pretty and I hope the Skinners host more events here. I especially loved the pond with a sitting area in front of it.

Seven Oaks is what Jason calls a “Piedmont site”, which he defines as relatively lower-elevation site with more energetic soil, as opposed to the thinner soils of a mountain site such as his 950-foot elevation estate vineyard. Seven Oaks’ lower 450-foot elevation drives much of the decision-making on what to plant here.

The vineyard’s original plantings includes Chardonnay, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc. More recently it’s become home to Arterra’s Grüner Veltliner, Blaufränkisch, and Zweigelt. It used to grow Arterra’s Malbec, until it was torn out around 2019.

Planning for cold weather events is actually why Jason chose the last three varieties. All three are indigenous to Austria, which only grows grapes suitable for cooler climates.

At first I was confused why someone would plant cool-climate varieties in warm-climate Virginia. But Jason explained “It’s all about the right grape in the right site”.

While Virginia’s summers are characterized as ‘hot and humid’, its winters can occasionally be very cold (as the polar vortex of 2014 demonstrated). Low-elevation sites are especially vulnerable to cold weather, which is why Jason decided to keep his most tender vinifera at his estate vineyard while focusing on early ripening, cold-hardy varieties here.

Jason and Mark walked us through their various plantings and we sampled grapes from the vine while tasting wine made from those plots. It was my first time tasting the Zweigelt and Blau, and only second time tasting the Grüner.

I felt the Blau was very fresh and juicy; a summer/fall wine that can be enjoyed a little chilled. The Zweigelt was more of a fall/winter or food wine; it was too warm for me to enjoy on our walk but I’d enjoy it with hearty meal. It was also a favorite of the local wildlife, apparently.

I loved the Grüner as well. This was different from the lean, austere wines of Austria. It was ‘bigger’ in volume and richer in texture than the typical Grüners you find. Some of that may be its location, but I think most of the credit is because of Jason’s focus on ‘clean’ wine and use of natural yeast.

All three varieties were recent additions, with 2022 being their first vintages. Sandy and Jason Murray were really excited to see how the vine’s growing maturity would influence the wine.

We also tried the no-sulfite PV, Cab Franc, and his rosé. While Jason makes a more ‘traditional’ PV, this one only uses fruit from the Seven Oaks Vineyard. This PV was softer than his regular PV, while the Cab Franc might have been my favorite wine of the day.

We finished the day with a big charcuterie plate and other light bites, which we paired with his Seven Oaks red blend.