Hello and Welcome to
Octo-Vember!
This is the climate update
for the first 15 days of Octo-Vember 2012.
It seems that 2012 is winding down to be a very, very good year. The
rains we so desperately needed arrived just in time, on Friday, Octo-Vember
12th. It was a fairly thorough soaking of about 0.86 inches in 24
hours. We commenced harvest that Sunday with our first 15 tons of Pinot Noir,
and it was good. In fact it was so good, we went back for another 15 tons that
Wednesday. Listen to what the great Inspector Jacques Clouseau has to say. Make
that Chief
Inspector.
Now, some folks may
believe that rain at harvest is the worst possible thing. We can assure you that
is not the case. Having the fuel filter fall off of the tractor, in the rain,
during harvest, is much worse (photo and expletives are deleted.) We will try
and present the features and benefits of rain just before the harvest window.
This reminds Ernie of his
Microsoft days when the “product group” (PG) that writes the application
software is ready to release a new version. They first have to give the code to
“product support services” (PSS) for final sign off. PSS is the interface with
the end user, aka the customer.
Before PSS signs off,
there is a fair bit of back and forth with the PG. They say they will fix that
bug in the next release. PSS knows how much time and energy it will take to
support the end users, er ah customers, and wants it fixed before they will sign
off.
When the software features
do not work as documented, the phone rings at PSS. When the software does things
it is not supposed to do, that is called an “undocumented feature.” The folks
from the PG are, by this time, in Hawaii or Corfu and are most certainly
incommunicado. For anyone who has enjoyed the benefits of Microsoft software,
perhaps you can understand how some of these folks may never get to see the
sun.
Feature and Benefits of
Rain Just Before the Harvest Window
-
Feature: Recording nearly an inch of rain from Mother Nature 2 days before harvest is set to begin. Listen to what she has say about that. How convenient.
-
Benefit 1: Lower alcohol wine. This separates the early pickers from the rest of us. You will recognize these folks immediately. They are walking around with suntans and ear to ear grins as they have harvested in sunny and dry conditions. They are also in total shock as the sugar levels of these grapes will yield alcohol percentages often reserved for Port style wines.
Even with a parched summer
and no measurable rainfall since June, the vines’ need for water will not be
denied. The primary use of water is to cool the undersides of the leaves so that
photosynthesis can continue. Once the efforts to extract moisture from the soil
become too severe, the vines turn to the berries. The result is desiccation and
the berries are robbed of their precious water. Queue the Chief Inspector.
-
Benefit 2: Mature flavor development. There is a reason Pinot Noir thrives in cool climates, and that reason is the time needed to achieve great flavors and aromas in the berries’ skin. Here in the Willamette Valley we are looking for 105 days for this to occur. That puts us right about the 12th day of Octo-Vember.
In summary, the right
decision for Amalie Robert Estate was to let Mother Nature catch up on her sleep
another time and give us a very nice shower to start things off. This concludes
the Feature and Benefits section. Comments, Chief Inspector?
Some of you may be asking
about dilution. Dilution refers to the situation where there is too much juice
to balance the flavors and aromas from the skins. This can happen over the
dinner table when some chronologically disadvantaged person is given a glass of
wine cut with water. It can also happen in a fermenter when someone is trying to
“fix” a high alcohol wine by adding back water. The result is lower alcohol, but
a dilution of the flavors and aromas.
By now, you have most
likely copped onto our plan. We wanted to dilute the sugars of our grapes with a
little rain water. However, we also wanted to allow the skins to mature and
continue developing intense flavors and aromas. The obvious choice was to hold
tight through a little bit of rain and take advantage of more hang time. Of
course, if you don’t farm your fruit to take a little rain, then Botrytis will
eliminate this option for you and you must harvest before the rains.
Did we make the right call? We will know for sure in about 5 years.
Today we can say that our sugar levels, measured in Brix, are running mid-23 on
average. This will result in final alcohol levels around 13.5%. That is pretty
typical for the vineyard at Amalie Robert Estate. The aromas coming off the wild
yeast fermentations are wonderful. The colors are a deeply hued ruby red, not
that there is anything wrong with that.
This late in the season,
the numbers show what kind of finishing touches Mother Nature added to the
vintage.
The first half of
Octo-Vember gave us 144 Degree Days. Our high temperature was a blistering 92.5
degrees and our low temperature was just above the frost level at 37.60.
Rainfall for this 15 day period was 2.13 inches. Total 2012 growing season
Degree Days represent a perfect cool climate vintage at 2,068 and rainfall
checks in at 11.09 inches. Say What?
If you have not had a
chance to experience harvest, please take a moment to watch harvest at Amalie Robert Estate. The video was filmed and
produced by VineStories.
It’s not too late to
purchase tickets to attend the ¡Salud! Pinot Noir auction this year. If
you can not attend, but would like to enter a sealed bid, there is still time.
For more information, please follow this link for the Amalie Robert Estate
¡Salud! Cuvee: 2011 Amalie Robert ¡Salud! Cuvee,
and this link for more information about placing a sealed bid: http://www.saludauction.org/auction/the-oregon-pinot-noir-auction/auction-items/.
You may also contact Lindsay Coon at ¡Salud! by phone at 503-681-1850 or
by e-mail at lindsay.coon@tuality.org.
Kindest
Regards,
Dena &
Ernie
