March
brings out many wonderful things in the Pacific Northwest. Mother Nature really
puts on a show with her kaleidoscope of colors and textures as the spring blooms
intrepidly emerge. Surely the vines, and vintage 2017, cannot be far behind. And
what a lovely vintage this is going to be!
As they say, hope springs
eternal. But after living through the last Oregon winter, we are hoping for
eternal spring! From record lows, and multiple snow events to hail storms and
torrential rains, we are over received from old man winter. And then, we were
robbed of an hour of sleep in mid-March. Maybe this Russia thing really has
gotten out of hand.
As with the color
spectrum of spring, the range of colors in Rosé wines can be overwhelming,
limited only by the breadth and depth of your imagination. Each variety from
Cabernet Franc to Zinfandel emulates a sliver of a rainbow. And if you have ever
heard of someone who describes aromas and flavors as colors, then the rainbow of
Rosé’s color palette is yours to complete. Alas, it is the same dilemma every
year, so many wines, so little time…
And what better time for new Rosé
wines than spring? Things are all anew and refreshed after a long winters nap.
Brisk mornings and sunny afternoons are the order of the day. Dressing up the
garden for an endless summer’s cornucopia of blooms and fresh produce is
certainly a gateway activity to enjoying a chilled glass of Rosé as you admire
your handiwork. Sunlight is captured and shimmers brilliantly as the wine swirls
against a backdrop of apples, cheeses, strawberries and cured meats. If there
were ever a reason to look forward to completing the Spring cleaning chores, a
refreshing glass of Pinot in Pink Rosé would certainly be it.
First blush: 2016 Pinot
in Pink Rosé
As harvest begins, we find there is always a bit of juice
and a few wine berries at the bottom of our harvest bins. As it turns out, it is
always the most developed wine berries that fall off the cluster and end up
stranded in the harvest bins. We rescue these wayward wine berries and juice
throughout our Pinot Noir harvest.
Each day that of harvest brings a few
more gallons of juice and wine berries. They wait patiently in a fermenter for
all of their clonal relations to come together. A few of the Dijon clones are
usually represented in the first days of harvest. The Pommard clone is very
gregarious and seems to be part of almost every harvest day. But it is the
Wadenswil clone that is the hold out. Maybe it is the rootstocks, or the
locations on the hill, or maybe they just need a little extra time to develop
their magic. Ernie is patient with the Wadenswil clone and tries his best to
make sure they get all the time they need. But whatever the reason, it seems
Wadenswil is usually the last clone to leave the vineyard.
Once harvest
is finally wrapped up, the complete lot of juice and whole wine berries is
pressed to release all of their aromas and flavors and then fermented to dryness
in stainless steel. The result is a vivacious Rosé with a striking color that
presents the essence of Pinot Noir - Pinot in Pink Rosé. And next up will be the Bellpine Pearl, but that is a release
for another month.
The 2016 Vintage: Playing chicken with Mother
Nature. Vintage 2016 was another barn burner for the record books, but with a
twist. The continuing pattern of warm night time temperatures established way
back from 2012 was in full effect. But this year the water spigot did not get
fully turned off during the summer and we recorded measurable precipitation
every month during the growing season.
We bore witness to the blogosphere
reporting the Willamette Valley once again had pre-mature fermentation with one
of the earliest harvests on record. And once again, Ernie would not get out the
harvest bins until we saw a little mid-September rainfall. Note: Playing chicken
with Mother Nature is not for the weak kneed or timid.
And pretty much
right on par with 2015, our first significant rainfall occurred overnight on the
16th of September with 0.36 inches being recorded. We could not
believe it. The soils were as dry as the day before, but the rain gauge does not
lie. The wine berries were drawing up that soil moisture and continuing to
develop aroma and flavor, just as if we had planned it that way, which, in fact,
we had.
The 2016 harvest began in earnest at Amalie Robert Estate on
September 23. It was a young block of Wadenswil grafted onto 44-53 rootstock at
the highest elevation of the property that began the show. And then the mystery
of the vintage began to unfold. The 28th of September recorded 0.86
inches of rainfall followed the next day by 0.27 inches. The first couple days
of October brought another 0.93 inches. That’s over 2 inches of rain in a week!
Now, we are getting somewhere, but only if you were able to hold out for the
rains.
Is ripeness sugar accumulation or aroma and flavor development
with moderate tannins? When and why do you harvest and who gets to make that
decision? This is where the motivation behind contract vineyards and estate
grown vines becomes apparent. Some blink, some don’t.
And that is when we
got with the program. With each passing day of harvest, the sugar concentrations
were dropping and the aromas and flavors were coming on strong. And since we
leave leaves to shade our Pinot Noir, the aromas and flavors were elegant and
perfumed.
The temperatures also began to cool considerably in September.
The vintage accumulated 2,177 degree days, but only 300 of those were in
September and the last 40 came in by mid-October. The heat came on just like
voting - early and often. And then it was over. Vintages have
consequences…
You can read the full Harvest After Action Report (AAR) on
our FLOG (Farming bLOG): http://amalierobert.blogspot.com/2016/11/amalie-robert-estate-vintage-update.html
Kindest
Regards,
Dena & Ernie
