Winemaking: The Continuation of Terroir by Other Means.®: November 2015

Introduction

Josh

"Dena Drews and Ernie Pink have been quietly producing some of Oregon's most elegant and perfumed Pinots since the 2004 vintage. Their 30-acre vineyard outside the town of Dallas, abutting the famed Freedom Hill vineyard where Drews and Pink live, is painstakingly farmed and yields are kept low so production of these wines is limited. Winemaking includes abundant use of whole clusters, which is no doubt responsible for the wines' exotic bouquets and sneaky structure…"

- Josh Raynolds, Vinous - October 2015

David

"...Dallas growers Dena Drews and Ernie Pink... showed me this July three of their reserve bottlings and thereby altered my perception of their endeavors. Since these are produced in only one- or two-barrel quantities, they offer an extreme instance of a phenomenon encountered at numerous Willamette addresses, whose really exciting releases are extremely limited. But they also testify, importantly, to what is possible; and what’s possible from this site in these hands revealed itself to be extraordinary!... And what a Syrah!"

- David Schildknecht, The Wine Advocate - October 2013

Wine & Spirits

"Finding that their whole-cluster tannins take some time to integrate, Pink and Drews hold their wines in barrel for up to 18 months - so Amalie Robert is just releasing its 2008s. And what a stellar group of wines: Bright and tart, they possess both transparency and substance, emphasizing notes of rosehips and sandalwood as much as red berries. The pinot noirs alone would likely have earned Amalie Robert a top 100 nod this year. But the winery also produces cool-climate syrah that rivals the best examples from the Sonoma Coast. And the 2009 Heirloom Cameo, their first attempt at a barrel-fermented chardonnay, turned out to be one of our favorite Oregon chardonnays of the year. Ten vintages in, Amalie Robert has hit its stride."

- Luke Sykora, Wine & Spirits Magazine – September 2011

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Amalie Robert Estate: 2015 Salud Pinot Noir Auction

Hello and Welcome,

The ¡Salud! Pinot Noir auction is nearly here! The event is being held this coming weekend, November 13th and 14th. As many of you know, this event intends to showcase 44 of the top Oregon Pinot Noir producers who donate just 5 cases of their best wine for this auction. The only way to get one, or two, of these cases is to participate in the Big Board auction. This wine is not otherwise for sale.

Our quest for the best wine in our cellar ends where your quest for acquisition begins. We encourage you to enjoy the Friday tasting and partake of the Big Board with vigor. The Big Board will be your only opportunity to acquire the Amalie Robert Estate ¡Salud! Cuvée.

Can’t make it to the event, but still want the wine? That’s easy! Just download the sealed bid form and submit it to the ¡Salud! office before Friday, November 13^th.

http://www.saludauction.org/pdfs/Auction/sealed_bid_2015.pdf

Now, here’s the insider story on this year’s Amalie Robert Estate ¡Salud! Cuvée.

2014 ¡Salud! Cuvée Pinot Noir

The 2014 vintage ¡Salud! Cuvée is 60 bottles of pure magic from a single barrel of one of our most coveted blocks of Pommard clone. The wine is 100% estate grown and hand harvested Pinot Noir that was fermented in a small 1.5 ton fermenter with estate grown indigenous yeast and about 25% whole clusters. The wine will continue to mature in barrel until early 2016, and may be bottled in 750 or 1,500 ml bottles according to each successful bidder’s preference.

Our soil parent material is sedimentary and the soil series is “Bellpine” - a well drained silty clay loam comprised of about 24-36 inches of effective rooting depth. The vines are oriented due south on a protected southwest aspect from about 450 to 500 foot elevation and densely planted at 1,452 vines per acre. The trellis is VSP and the canopy is managed to within an inch of perfection. We are located in the last best place to grow Pinot Noir™.

The fruit for this year’s ¡Salud! Cuvée was grown exclusively in block 26, which we personally planted at the turn of the century. Block 26 represents just a half acre of Pommard clone vines grafted onto that bruiser 5C rootstock. Pommard clone on 5C is a magical combination in our vineyard. So magical in fact that it has produced the best barrel in our cellar.

And if you want to taste where the rest of this barrel is destined, you may want to check out our top bottling called The Reserve. From our initial bottling through the latest 2010 release, The Reserve Pinot Noir has owned the top score of the vintage in 3 of its 5 releases. And the two years it did not earn the top spot, it missed by a single point. Source: Vinous Media.

- Josh Raynolds, Vinous - October 2015

One of the many benefits of growing our own wine is the understanding of how the fruit is maturing. Among all of the most important decisions we must make each year, when to harvest is clearly the most important. Harvesting the fruit when the aromas and flavors are at their optimal ripeness is our goal. Bear in mind, optimal is a relative term, but it is vintage specific.

You can read all about it in the 2014 “After Action Report” here:
http://amalierobert.blogspot.com/2014/11/amalie-robert-estate-vintage-update.html

The 2014 vintage ¡Salud! Cuvée is a purposeful expression of Amalie Robert Estate. The soils, climate and winegrowing are all balanced and in tune with the vintage – Wines true to the soil, Wines true to the vintage^®. A quintessential exemplar of the vintage, this wine delivers a full frontal lobe experience.

Our quest for the best wine in our cellar ends where your quest for acquisition begins. The Big Board auction will be your only opportunity to acquire the 2014 vintage Amalie Robert Estate ¡Salud! Cuvée. If you are attending the event on Friday, November 13^th we look forward to pouring this wine for you.

However, if you are not attending the event, you can still lay claim to a case or two of our best Pinot Noir from the wildly expressive 2014 vintage with a sealed bid.

A sealed bid allows you to participate in the Salud Big Board auction without attending the event. There are only 5 cases available and the minimum bid this year for a 9 liter case (12 x 750ML or 6 x 1.5L bottles) is $600. That’s just $50 a bottle! But the bids only go up from there.

Please download the sealed bid form and show your support for the best of the best Oregon Pinot Noir!

http://www.saludauction.org/pdfs/Auction/sealed_bid_2015.pdf

We encourage everyone to “Bid early, Bid eagerly and Bid often!”

¡Salud!

Dena & Ernie