Hello
and Welcome to the 2011 growing season!
Amalie Robert Estate declared Bud Break on May 5, 2011. This is day 125
on the Julian calendar and is as late as we have seen in the Willamette Valley.
But
let's put this in context before someone declares this the worst vintage in
history. After the 2007 dust-up, everyone knows who that might
be.
Bud
Break is the first visible sign that the wines are waking up. The next step is
for the vines to grow shoots, then flower, pollinate and set fruit.
From
such humble beginnings, we want to harvest mature and healthy grapes after
sharing a small portion with the birds. We know we will begin harvest about 105
days after the vines flower and set fruit. But when will they
flower?
Let's
draw a parallel from the vines yearly cycle to our own daily
lives.
Waking up on Monday morning and getting to work is something most of us
have done, at least once in our lives. The time we spend from the moment the
alarm goes off, until we get in the car varies day by day. We respond to the
issues at hand like no hot water, or being out of coffee. But once we get in the
car, we usually have a route that gets us to work within a fairly constant span
of time.
Think
of the vines as just waking up. They are responding to this year's weather
patterns and have not yet gotten to the work of putting up shoots and flowers.
Once they do flower however, we know to add 105 days for a potential harvest
window.
What
we do not know is how long the vines need to get their flowers on. At least we
know what we don't know. So, let's give the vines a chance to actually get to
work before we start docking their pay, and knocking the vintage.
Kindest Regards,
Dena
and Ernie
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