Winery Visitation - Bacchus Winery, Fredericksburg, VA, March 10, 2016

"It's not an ideal spot for the wine," said Hal, "but it barely stays on the shelves
long enough for it to matter!"

Hal Bell, self-taught oenologist, commercial winery owner, weekend warrior, and soon to be retired senior executive at NASA, certainly has more knowledge of wine making than the size of his store allows. Located just a few miles outside of Central Park in Fredericksburg, VA, Bacchus Winery has many resources for the wine enthusiast, including free tastings of his wine, bottles for purchase that he has made, classes to teach people how to make wine, space to make their own, and products to make wine, from grape juice in a bucket to the finished product in a bottle. It may appear slightly haphazard at first glance, but the unit is organized in a way to utilize nearly every square inch of the property. Hal is passionate about what he has learned and only wishes to teach anyone the increasing popularity of home wine making. But not everything about the business is all glamorous; from the local to the federal level, everyone wants their own sip of the magical liquid.

The walls were lined with anything you might need for making wine. 

When you first walk into the winery, most people might feel a little offish, as it's not your typical wine shop. The first thing you notice is the two large racks of wine and a table with 2 rather fancy looking, FastFerment carboys. to the right of these nice displays are all of the essential tools to make wine, such as corks, carboys, sugar, foil toppers, floor corkers, and so much more. On the left are all of the kits that contain the juices and other ingredients that will eventually turn into wine. These kits are the reason this winery is so interesting. They come from all over the world, and have juices from grapes that were grown in Australia, France, Germany, Canada, and other places. So instead of focusing on grapes in Virginia, like most winery's in this state do, you could literally make your own Bordeaux or Châteauneuf-du-Pape (though you technically couldn't call them by their region).

The shelves on the right are utilized by his students and anyone else who wants
to use his store for making their own wine, for a small fee.

As you walk towards the back, along the walls are rows upon rows of wine in either primary or secondary fermentation. In front of those shelves are the tables he uses for his classroom. In one area he holds his student's wines and other people who want to use his space to make their wines. For a small fee of $45, anyone can make wines under Hal's supervision, coaching them along the way, ensuring that they make the wine they want to.

The shelves, steel tanks, and the back tables are used for making Hal's own wine.

On the other side, Hal keeps his own wine, to be bottled and sold under the Bacchus label. From simple juice and yeast to dynamic and complex blends of grapes and other fruits, he explained to me that he experiments over and over to recreate the wines that he has tasted and loved throughout his life. He has a couple oak barrels for his big reds, like cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay. He also has a few large fermenting tanks for his more popular varietals.


Okay, now on to the fun stuff: tasting! I tasted over 20 wines, and even a hard cider. Some of the wines I tasted were straight out of the carboys, and one out of the oak barrel.  Hal was thorough in his explanation of each wine, which each being crafted to his liking. Though his winery appeals to the people visiting, I think he puts his own personal spin on it to make each wine in his image.
We started with whites. He had a few Rieslings that had different characteristics, as they were grown in different regions: One in Germany, one in Oregon, and the other in Canada. I was able to really dissect the difference climate makes on a single grape varietal, as the German Riesling was very sweet, the Canadian was quite dry and acidic, and the Oregon-grown grapes were a semi-sweet mix of the two locations. I then was able to try a Traminer-Riesling that had even more body, as the slight spiciness of the Traminer added a new layer to the semi-sweet Riesling. I was then given an unoaked Chardonnay to taste, a Chardonnay oaked for a few months, and one that had been oaked so long, there was little fruitiness to speak of. I had generally disliked Chardonnays bought from the store, as I disliked how the real grape flavor couldn't come through, but the unoaked Chardonnay really blew me away, as it was quite easy and flavorful to taste. We then had some reds, a Super Tuscan, a California Syrah, an oaked Cabernet Sauvignon, Stag's Leap District Merlot, a Gamay, and a few others. I then got a chance to try some of his wines that weren't bottled yet. Using a special glass tube called a "wine thief," he extracted a special cherry wine, this very sweet white wine, a Sangria, and a Cabernet in the middle of oaking. All of the individual wines were made in such a way to perfectly characterize the wine of that region. He sometimes spoke about how he would add flavors, or plan to only to realize the wine created the taste he was looking for on its own. Though his own wine making is an integral part of his operation, what he has above other wineries is a place to learn how to make your own wine at home, using the kits which he uses to make his own.

Companies like Winexpert allow anyone to
make wines of any grape in the world.

The big reason why I believe Bacchus Winery is so special is not only does Hal make wines from kits, but also teaches others, in a class setting, how to make their own at home. It allows anyone to make a wine from a grape grown anywhere around the world: Châteauneuf-du-Pape (really called Cotes du Rhone), Bordeaux, Barolo, South Africa, Australia, even Canada all have excess juice at the end of a harvest. Companies like Winexpert, RJ Spagnols, and others buy these juices and allows for people to make wine at a severely discounted price. While Hal could easily and very quickly sell a complex Amarone for $30 or more a bottle, someone at home with the right know-how could make their own for less than $5. Home wine making has been around for centuries, but it's only recently that it has gained even more popularity; it lets someone save a lot on wine, while also crafting it to their own personal tastes. It truly is a great skill to have, and Hal aims to give anyone, who is willing to learn, the knowledge he taught himself a few years ago. In his winery, people can sign up for classes that shows them the basics of a wine kit, and goes through each step, from primary fermentation to bottling. Even after the class is over, those people can still come back and use his shop to continue making their own wine. This is a great idea, as some people are a little apprehensive to have their home smell like fermenting grapes for 6 weeks or longer. They also can get pointers from the master oenologist himself on how to get the best out of their particular wine during the production process.

But still, as Hal explained to me, not everything about owning a winery is all it may seem. While it is great to be able to make and sell this product, everyone up the corporate and governmental food chain wants a piece of the pie. Since the winery is not associated with any Virginia-grown grapes, he can't really label himself a Virginia farm winery. The store is technically called a commercial winery, which requires its own set of regulations and permits in which Virginia farm wineries don't necessarily need to abide by. For instance, he is only allowed to sell his wine in the store. While Places like Attimo and Chateau Morisette are allowed to set up shop in wine festivals to have people taste their wine, Hal's business is restricted to the storefront. Another issue he mentioned was the difficulty in having his wine served at any local restaurant. It's not as simple as going to a store and asking them to sell his wine; there are certain regulations that Hal is not willing to agree to. He would need to go through a middle man, someone who gets a cut of the market just for helping him move a product from his store to another. In addition, the middle man sets the prices of the wine, regardless of if it's better than another wine he may be supplying to the restaurant. So Hal is pretty much unable to have any say in the price of his wines or the fee the middle man asks. On top of all of this, the local, state, and federal government have already charged hefty sums for all the permits he is required to have, not to mention, every new label he creates for a wine costs an additional $60. There are loopholes as always, and Hal is looking into ways he could get around the middle men, but everyone seems to be wanting to get their hands on any profits his business can make.

Through all of this, though, Hal still finds his new business to be very fulfilling, even with the marginal profits. It's something that he loves to do, and wouldn't mind doing into the coming decades. It's great to finally see my father really enjoying something to its fullest, and I can't wait to see the full potential Bacchus Winery has to offer.

Some links:
Bacchus Winery Facebook Page:
https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=952630911434077&tsid=0.19675347108365604&source=typeahead
Bacchus Winery Website:
http://bacchusva.com/