Hello and Welcome,
The first half of September is
“in the sack,” so to speak. While we have had a warm growing season, we remain
vigilant in waiting for our wines to “come of age” on the vine before we take
them for our own. Chaste we remain.
Others just could not hold back
and released their crews into the fertile fields. They harvested early,
certainly in respect to the last several vintages. And why not? The vines were
bearing bare, voluptuous clusters sweet with sugar and alluring to the eye.
Their firm and youthful berries yielding just slightly to the touch.
Basking in the sun’s morning
glow, but before they reached their full zenith, they were plucked from the
vine. Maturation Interruptus! On those warm, early September afternoons the
clusters with berries just yearning to burst were sent into fermenters for a
cold “soak.” People will find out, they always do - it’s going to come out, it
always does. There was premature vinification.
It’s OK, really, and quite
understandable. Wine is only made once a year, and that is a long dry spell for
anyone to not practice their craft. Skills and abilities, as well as a sense of
timing, can atrophy without robust exercise and discipline.
So why wait to harvest? What is
to be gained by delaying the gratification of denuding the vine and surrendering
yourself to all of that wonderful Pinot Noir? If you watch closely in the
vineyard, you will see the birds and the bees partaking of this sublime nectar.
Why not the humans? We know, this is an argument as old as time. And sometimes
we all do the wrong thing for selfish reasons. We’re humans. That’s what we do.
Some, more than others…
But Pinot Noir accepts no excuses
and in fact will tell on you. Maybe not today or next week, or even in the
barrel, but rest assured the day will come when someone smells an
underdeveloped expression of Pinot Noir. The discussion will turn to hang time,
and that’s when it will come out. As much fun as it was to get them off early,
you may be faced with a comment like this from one of your better customers:
“Maturation
interruptus leading to premature vinification resulting in an unfinished
expression of The Joy of Pinot Noir.”
That’s the main reason we are
holding firm – the sugar development is ahead of the aroma and flavor
development. The risk we take in waiting is substantial. We could continue to
build sugars resulting in high alcohol wines, the birds could ravage the
vineyard and we could get unprecedented rain. Well, that just described the
last 3 vintages, so no big deal. Been there, had that done to us.
The rewards, on the other hand,
are immeasurable. You know that feeling when it is just right. The world is
spinning in greased grooves and everything is humming along. A time for
everything and everything right on time. That’s what we are bearing down on.
And as you might well expect, we
have the numbers to support our voluptuous clusters.
Let’s start with 105. That’s a
pretty good number for growing Pinot Noir in Oregon . We know that it takes about 105 days
from the time we flower until we develop those striking Oregon aromas and
flavors in the skins of our grapes. And 105 days for us is Julian calendar day
262, aka September 19.
We can also factor in 265.4. This
represents the Degree Days for the first half of September. While this does not
tell the whole story of the vintage, adding it to the tally from August does.
We are sitting at 2,151.4 degree days.
Rain for the month of August was
0.11 inches and rain for the first half of September was 0.05 inches. While
August had a better showing in the rain department, it ain’t over until the red
haired lady lets go. And that’s where we are placing our bets – she can’t hold
out much longer.
The next week is calling for some
precipitation. We are looking at it like the Ski Resorts do – you don’t know
when you are going to get it, or how much you are going to get, but you will be
grateful when it happens.
We were in a similar situation in
2012 and 2013 – both warm vintages. Things got a little out of hand in 2013
when we were surprised with 9’’ of rain, but we handled it just fine. Ernie is
thinking just an inch or so will do. Dena is thinking a bit more.
Kindest Regards,
Dena & Ernie
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