Hello and Welcome,
This is the Amalie Robert
Estate Climate Update: June 2019. A Flog Communication.
June is the month that the
vines typically flower, and they did. It was a pleasant month, with some
absolutely amazing weather during bloom. We are expecting a full fruit set, and
then some, so we may need you to check your roller bag. Note: Wine flies free
on Alaska Airlines flights out of Portland. Of course you, or your designated
handler, will need to accompany it.
This outrageously fantastic
weather means we are most likely sitting on about twice as many wine berries as
we can optimistically hope to ripen. But that depends on the months of July,
August and September – if we can hold out that long. Ernie’s block 2 midnight
naked rain dance has been less and less effective each passing year. However,
it does seem to keep the deer fascinated. Maybe he needs some new moves.
And we have equipment
maintenance redux with our newfound best friend Ray the welding man. Ernie
picked up on checking his lug nuts each and every farming day. But what have we
here? Yep, it’s a case of broken spokes. But only 4 out of 5.
Have you ever noticed that
when you start a project everything is exciting and new, but as you work your
plan it can become a shlog? Never enough time to wrap it up completely before
the next big thing comes along. If Ernie just spent a little more time mowing
that day, why he could have snapped that last spoke. Sometimes it is good not
to finish. But thanks to Ray and an afternoon of welding, it is not only as
good as new, it is significantly more better!
And June means wires. Miles
and miles of high tensile wires. And humans to tuck those shoots and raise
those wires. Fortunately, the weather was quite moderate, mostly topping out in
the 70s during the day and a chilly mid 40s at night. Makes you appreciate a steaming
cup of morning accelerant and a cold post-shift beer. The diurnal cycle of caffeine
and ethanol, what kind of world would we have without it?
And it was Dena’s birthday.
Happy Birthday Dena!!
Next up is hedging and 5 sets
of oil changes. Let’s talk about hedging. The concept here is that you trim off
the shoot tips so the vines redirect their energy from growing longer and
longer shoots to ripening their wine berries. So that we in turn may cluster
pluck them from within the safety of their catch wires and ferment the sugar
out of them. That is what we want. The vines just want to ripen their seeds and
make new little vines. We can take cuttings and graft new vines. A medieval
form of cloning if you will, but sometimes the old ways are the best. Just ask
Dolly the sheep.
Vine Row Before
Hedging
Vine Row After Hedging
And we have two sets of
numbers to report on. The first comes from Vinous Media, where Josh Raynolds,
Oregon’s correspondent, published his much anticipated and long overdue report
on Oregon Pinot Noir. Our entire Pinot Noir portfolio (one exemplar each) spanning
3 vintages, 2013 – 2015, was reviewed. While they were a tight grouping, 92-94
points is a good group to be tightly grouped in with.
Now, on to the farmin’
numbers!
June’s high temperature was
98.8 degrees recorded mid-month on the 12th around 4:12 pm. The low
temperature for the month was up from May’s 34.3 degrees to 43.0 recorded on
June 8th at around 1:00 am. It was quite a time to be up viewing the
stars and recording temperatures. Too early (and cold) for the first rain
dance.
Once again, the diurnal shifts
in the first half of the month were wider and produced a higher average
temperature of 64.83 compared with the second half of the month at 61.53
degrees.
Degree Days for June were
406.4 with the first half of the month registering 229.5 and the latter period
176.9 Degree Days. The growing season to-date Degree Days stand at 806.7 for
2019 compared with 784.3 Degree Days for 2018. Clearly, we can see the
breakaway in Degree Days from the last growing season beginning to manifest
itself.
Climatically speaking, the big
surprise was the blast of artic air, and corresponding 0.35 inches of rain that
came toward the end of the month. Nice to have that in your back 40 going into
summer, as it could be the last measurable precipitation we receive until a
harvest window opens up. Total rainfall for June 2019 was 0.40 inches compared
with June 2018 accumulation of 0.91 inches.
That’s what it was like at our
house.
Kindest Regards,
Dena & Ernie
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