Hello,
This is the climate update for
August 2010.
Due to the tardiness of this
communiqué, I can tell you September is shaping up to be quite fine. September
11 brought with it a beautiful day that Ernie took full advantage of by sewing
in his fall cover crop. This was a day the quail had been waiting for since the
Spring cover crop was drilled in April. It was also a day of remembrance at
Amalie Robert Estate.
So, we find ourselves right where
Mother Nature wants us. Despite the "noise" from the peanut gallery we are right
where we should be, turning the corner from veraison into a slow and steady
ripening phase. Not too hot, not too cold, but just like the proverbial porridge
- just right. Maybe it's true, the ends do justify the
means.
Sure harvest will start about the
same time we finished last year, but hey if it were easy, everyone would be
doing it. Bear in mind, that the old timers around here will tell you (and have
told me, repeatedly) that own rooted vines on wide spacings typically were
harvested in the second to third week of October. Their view on a "late"
harvest? No big deal. The Syrah and Viognier however, are going to be a November
pick.
My extended forecast calls for
cooler days and nights, with some fits and starts of rain. There will be sunny
days (like today!), and some cloudy days. Oh, and the wind will blow. I haven't
quite worked out the timing or duration yet, but you will know it when you see
it. The vines however, are a determined bunch. They are focused on ripening
their seeds and calling it a vintage. As my architect likes to say, they are
"dedicated to a purpose", as are we.
It is said that 80% of life is
just showing up and we continue to do our part each and every day. The vineyard
received a third hedge again this year. The purpose of this last hedge is to
remove as many actively growing shoot tips as possible. These shoot tips are in
competition with the grapes for the energy of the vine. By removing these
energy "sinks" we are directing more of the vine's energy to the fruit. Also, it
just looks nicer. Maybe Ernie was a shrubber in a previous movie.
We have dialed in our crop load
and are finishing up our thinning. The wings on Pinot Noir this year are big and
green - they are the first to go. From there we start thinning the remaining
fruit to hedge our bets toward full flavor development. Based on Mr. Erath's
wisdom and experience, backed up with actual vineyard trials, we thin our vines
so that if we need to leave a little extra fruit, we do so at the end of the
cane. He thinks it's better quality fruit, and I trust
him.
Now we wait just as quickly as we
can. Not so easy for the "A" type, but Dena helps provide balance this time of
year. So, let's overanalyze the numbers. We have recorded about 466 degree days
for the month of August, providing a total of 1,265 degree days since the
beginning of the growing season on April 1st. This compares with 534 degree days
last August and a comparative total of 1,634 degree days for 2009.
Let me say that
another way, we are about 370 degree days short of last year at this time. Now
the astute reader will know that 370 degree days equals a typical June. It seems
we have this global warming thing back to front.
Note the cool growing
season may benefit the wines in a way we all have been waiting for, lower
alcohols. With reduced degree days, we may see harvest conditions that show ripe
seeds and fully developed flavors at lower sugar levels. This converts directly
to lower alcohols. You will be interested in following this vintage if you are
enjoying how pretty the 2007 Pinots are becoming. As we like to say: PFNA -
Pretty Fruit, Nice Acid ®.
During August, our
highest high was 97.9 and our lowest high was 94.8; we missed the century mark
this year. Our lowest low was 43.2 and our highest low was 46.1 degrees
Fahrenheit. The rainfall for August came in a single 48 hour period and 0.75
inches and was 0.40 inches above last August's rain of 0.35. Rainfall since
April 1st through August 30th was 13.78 inches, and is 5.50 inches greater than
last year's growing season to date rainfall of 8.28 inches.
Here is a weather
website that gets a lot of traffic in September and October. Ernie checks it
about as often as E-mail. http://wxmaps.org/pix/pdxgfs.png
Kindest
Regards,
Ernie
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