Introduction

Winemaking: The Continuation of Terroir by Other Means.®

Welcome to the Amalie Robert Estate Farming Blog, aka FLOG. By subscribing, you will receive regular FLOGGINGS throughout the growing season. The FLOGGING will begin with the Spring Cellar Report in April. FLOGGINGS will continue each month and detail how the vintage is shaping up. You may also be FLOGGED directly after the big Cluster Pluck with the yearly Harvest After Action Report. Subscribe now and let the FLOGGINGS begin!

Rusty

"This is one of the Willamette Valley’s most distinguished wineries, but not one that is widely known."

- Rusty Gaffney, PinotFile - September 2016

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

Copyright

© 2005 – 2021 Amalie Robert Estate, LLC

Friday, June 25, 2021

Amalie Robert Estate Ask a Farmer: Trellis Design and Implementation

Hello and Welcome, 

 
With all of the recent Supermoon and eclipse activity, we occasionally look up to the stars and wonder if there is intelligent life beyond our world. And if there is, do they look back at our world and wonder if there is intelligent life here? 

The most recent federal government position seems to be “We can neither confirm or deny…” The report was written by a task force set up by the US Department of Defense. You can read all about it from the BBC.
 
Ernie sees Unidentified Farming Objects all the time. If it looks like a dirt clod, but hops away, most likely a bunny. If it flies away, most likely a quail. No big deal.



Winemaking: The Continuation of Terroir by Other Means.® A FLOG communication (Farming bLOG) by Dena & Ernie from Amalie Robert Estate. Oregon Willamette Valley Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Have a look and see what we see on Instagram @AmalieRobert Estate. We are posting on Facebook and LinkedIn. Check us out if you can. We can use all the likes we can get… Have a question? Ask a farmer.
 

Situational Review
 
The recent rains in the Willamette Valley helped bring cool temperatures to slow down the vines’ rate of growth. The vines respond to the growing conditions, but in the end they will not be denied. Excess soil moisture in June, followed by seasonal heat is going to supercharge the vines’ growth. And it is our job to catch that growth in our 3 sets of handy dandy trellis catch wires. And then we gain the upper hand by hedging off the excess growth.
 
June growth in Pinot Noir, already above the line post!
June growth in Pinot Noir, already above the line post!

The longest day of the year, meaning the day with the most sunlight hours was June 20th. From here on the daylight hours decrease until we reach the winter solstice on December 21st. The vines will be asleep by then, but they will start to notice the reduction in daylight hours RFN (right farming now).
 
Summer is officially here and we expect very little if any rain and low humidity through the month of August. It’s a nice time to visit wine country. Farming is taking center stage and it’s time for the annual parade of farm equipment maintenance. Change my oil, tighten my belt, grease my zerk, change my filters – the usual clown show. And a specialized form of farm equipment maintenance is called percussive maintenance.
 


 






Percussive maintenance is employed when a piece of FARM EQUIPMENT is performing below its specified service level and recommended adjustments, or approved repairs have not corrected the deficiency. This form of maintenance borrows heavily from the unofficial office motivational handbook. To wit: The beatings will continue until performance improves or the equipment in question is no longer serviceable. Having arrived at this juncture, it is time to go shopping for NEW FARM EQUIPMENT.


Ask a Farmer: Trellis Design and Implementation - DEEP DIVE!
 
It seems we created some confusion during our last communique regarding trellis catch wires. This highlights the fact we don’t get off the farm enough in the summer. We are working the vines every day, and sometimes lose sight of the fact that not everyone is as deeply versed in the ways of viticulture as we are. We will try and be less careless.
 
Ernie working in the vines, June 2021.
Ernie working in the vines, June 2021. 

The question centered around the catch wires and specifically how we designed the trellis to function. Note that while we designed the trellis system to be efficient, functional and easy to use, it is the field labor crew that actually implements the strategy. And here it is worth pointing out that a good strategy well executed, is better than a great strategy that no one can understand, nor implement. That is what you learn in Farming 101. And just a little bit about percussive maintenance.
 
The trellis catch wires are a permanent fixture in the vineyard. We run the catch wires after we plant the vines and pound the end posts and line posts. The catch wires are permanently attached to each end post.

Catch wires permanently attached to an end post.
Catch wires permanently attached to an end post.

What we do is move the catch wires vertically up and down the line posts (spaced every 20 feet in the row) to catch the vines’ growth. Hence the term catch wires.
 
Notched line post in the VSP trellis design.
Notched line post in the VSP trellis design.

Winter pruning starts in November after harvest. At that point in the growing season, the catch wires are in their up position. After pruning, the canes are pulled out of the catch wires and laid in the grass rows for mowing. This clears the trellis so we can reposition the catch wires to catch the next year’s growth.
 
First wire dropped so Ernie doesn't catch it in the rototiller.
First wire dropped so Ernie doesn't catch it in the rototiller.

We run 3 sets of catch wires. After pruning, the two upper sets of catch wires are clipped into the upper most position. The lowest catch wire set is on the ground. As the vines wake up and the shoots begin to grow, we lift the first set of catch wires off the ground and clip them into the line posts capturing about 12 to 15 inches worth of growth.
 
During this pass, we also lower the second set of catch wires to the ground. The idea is to raise the catch wires from below and catch the shoots. Please note, the galvanized steel line posts we use are only 2 inches wide. They are pre-notched with catch wire positions spaced 4 inches apart.
 
Line post with notches 4" apart for catch wire positions.
Line post with notches 4" apart for catch wire positions.

While it would be ideal if every shoot grew into this 2 inch opening, they simply refuse to comply. So, we lower the catch wires before the shoots are tall enough to reach the catch wire position on the line post. Otherwise, the shoots grow into the catch wires and get all tangled up and attached with their tendrils. That is a time-consuming mess to untangle, so we try to avoid it.
 
Catch wire set with 2" opening.
Catch wire set with 2" opening.

Then when the shoots are about 3 feet long, we come along and raise the second set of catch wires and clip them into the line post. At the same time, we lower the top catch wire to the ground. Once the vines reach beyond the top of the line posts at 5 feet, we come back and raise the third set of catch wires and clip them into position.
 
Catching the vines growth at the right time makes all the difference. If they are too short, you miss the shoots and the tractor tires take them off – and their goes your wine berries. If they are too tall, they are unwieldy and difficult to tuck into the wires.
 
This is the essence of a Vertical Shoot Positioned trellis system. At about a minute per vine, per set of catch wires, it is also quite labor intensive. But, if you want to grow the best wine on this planet, you have to do your part.
 
Mount Hood keeping a watch on the growing vines.
Mount Hood keeping a watch on the growing vines.

We are not too sure what the other galaxies are doing, but for now we are the only planet that grows wine. But things being what they are, maybe that will all change and we will start to see intergalactic trade in the Adult Recreational Beverage biosphere.
 
We have often wondered what Romulan ale tastes like. Probably best to avoid the Ferengi wine. Most likely counterfeit anyway.

Will you be in our area? Amalie Robert Estate is open all summer by appointment for vineyard tours and tastings. Select your preferred day and time with the Big Red Button.

Amalie Robert Tasting Appointment Request

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie

Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Amalie Robert Estate Climate Update: May 2021

Hello and Welcome, 

 
Got a minute? That’s what we hear this time of year. It comes from 36 acres of vines. Each one of them is looking for a minute of our time. It’s pretty simple math really, 52,000 vines need about 870 hours of hand labor to put up the first set of trellis catch wires and tuck their shoots inside of them. Once that is completed, the weather heats up in June and the vines grow an inch (or more) each day. Then the vines are ready for the second set and finally the third set of trellis catch wires. Each set of wires needs another minute of time, or 870 hours - depending on your perspective. 


Mt. Jefferson making an appearance.


Winemaking: The Continuation of Terroir by Other Means.® A FLOG communication (Farming bLOG) by Dena & Ernie from Amalie Robert Estate. Oregon Willamette Valley Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Have a look and see what we see on Instagram @AmalieRobert Estate. We are posting on Facebook and LinkedIn. Check us out if you can. We can use all the likes we can get…
 
May is Ernie’s Birthday Month. He is a Taurus. And for those of you who hadn’t figured that out yet, we felt it was about time to let you in on it. His contribution to the Amalie Robert Estate Pinot Noir portfolio is called Estate Selection. (Men make selections, and women make cuvées.)

Will you be in our area? Amalie Robert Estate is open all summer by appointment for vineyard tours and tastings. Select your preferred day and time with the Big Red Button.


Amalie Robert Estate about 15 miles southwest of Salem.

 

Canopy Management - It’s catch wire time in Willamette Valley wine country.
 
Miles and miles of hi-tensile wires. Readers of this FLOG know that an acre (43,560 square feet) of vines at Amalie Robert Estate represents 5,808 lineal feet. Just imagine all of those vine rows put end to end, instead of next to each other. For comparison, a mile is 5,280 lineal feet. Thanks to farming math, we can easily figure there are 1.1 lineal miles of vines per acre.

 
And on that acre there are some posts, EIEIO!



And on those posts we ran some wire, EIEIO!
 
In fact there are 8 wires on each of those posts. And thanks to our 1.1 lineal feet to square feet ratio, we know that’s 8.8 miles of wire per acre. There is a fruiting wire which holds the main cane and bears the weight of all the wine berries. There is a tendril wire about a foot above the fruiting wire so this year’s shoots have something to wrap their tendrils around, and then there are 3 pairs of catch wires.
 

Tendril holding on to a catch wire.

The fruiting wire and tendril wire are permanent. In other words they do not move up and down the post to hold the vines growth. They do move however, if a wayward tractor were to inadvertently run into a post. This is an unfortunate, but not uncommon, occurrence in farming.
 
 
Catch wires, do your job!
 
Their job is to contain the vine’s explosive springtime growth. Did we mention the trellis design at Amalie Robert Estate is called VSP? That stands for Vertical Shoot Position. Left to their natural tendencies, vines grow along the ground until they find someone they can lean on, like an oak tree. Then they use their tendrils to climb right up it. They are vines, that’s what they do.
 

VSP (Vertical Shoot Position) trellis at Amalie Robert Estate.

Since they can’t find any oak trees, they lean on us. More specifically, they grow into the trellis and our job is to vertically position their shoots into a set of horizontal wires. Surely, you can see how the vines upward growth is confused by this juxtaposition of horizontal wires. They need help. In our case, 870 hours worth of help.
 
 
Vertical shoots clipped between horizontal wires.

What does this mean and why should I care?
 
The goal is to harvest clean wine berries and ferment the sugar out of them. A properly trellised vine will more likely than not produce perfectly developed aroma and flavor wine berries free of rot, mold or any other affliction. Those wine berries make the best wine.
 
Rotted wine berries are no good. The birds won’t even eat the rotted ones. They will just fly over you and your picnic and drop little white spots on everything to show their disapproval with your lackadaisical approach and viticultural ineptitude.
 
This is something a 14 gauge can help with. Our 3 pairs of trellis catch wires are 14 gauge hi-tensile wire. When properly positioned at the most opportune time, we can catch the vines growth and direct the shoot growth upward allowing for sun exposure and airflow around each cluster of wine berries. This is the best-case scenario of canopy management. Ignore this step of winegrowing at your peril.


Amalie Robert Pinot Noir clusters enjoying the sun.
 
It’s most likely junk.
 
Welcome to the equipment corner. Our spring surprise THIS year was an inoperative UDOR diaphragm pump on the Turbo-mist Sprayer. Ernie discovered this early one Saturday morning. Being Saturday and all, there was no help available from the sprayer or pump manufacturer. Fortunately, there was still some downed branches from the ice storm to clean up. Ernie sent the appropriate E-mails so they would be waiting for the unsuspecting recipients early Monday morning and then he pivoted.
 

Turbo-mist sprayer with UDOR pump.

Monday morning arrived with a mission. UDOR is the Italian company that manufactures the pump. And that was Ernie’s first call. Clint was a fairly helpful engineering type and he said “Well, maybe you got lucky.” Ernie had to remind Clint that even though he was growing wine, this was really just plain old farming. Agriculture at its finest.
 
“Well then, if the diaphragms in the pump failed and the water mixed with the oil, its most likely junk.” This is what Ernie was looking to hear. A definitive “GO or NO GO” evaluation. Clint imparted a few words of wisdom, including some other farming anecdotes that can not be reproduced here, and sent Ernie on his way.
 

UDOR diaphragm pump "in situ".

Once the pump was separated from the sprayer, it was time to pull the drain plug. Like most other pumps or engines, water in the crankcase (where the crankshaft is located) is not a good sign. That is where the oil goes to lubricate the metal surfaces that have very tight clearances. Water in the oil is a telltale sign that you have exceeded the equipment’s mechanical limitations. Do not pass go and PAY $200.


"Open pump" transplant.

With that diagnostic step out of the way, Ernie was looking for a new pump – RFN. Tuesday morning the Turbo-mist E-mails were finally replied to. Those guys are up in Canada and may be a little slow in understanding the urgency of the situation. But again, this is farming, so what’s the big rush?
 
The Turbo-mist guys said call the Oregon dealer, and they provided a phone number – to Yakima, Washington. The dealer in Yakima, said he had a few pumps on order, but didn’t know when they would arrive. Then he asked why Ernie didn’t call the Oregon dealer. Right. Continue farming.
 
The parts man in Oregon said he had 3 pumps in stock. Ernie said put my name on one and he would come up to look at it right after lunch. In faming parlance “lunch” is a mythical time period that often buys you some time to finish doing whatever in the hell you were trying to get done before taking on a new (and unexpected) project. It rarely does, but sometimes can, involve food.
 
On the way out the door, the phone rings. It’s the parts man calling to say he can’t find the pumps. They are not in the parts bin where they are supposed to be. OK, thanks for the call. Turns out it really was time for lunch. After lunch, the phone rings again, and the pumps have been found. Procurement resumes forthwith.
 
Other than the fact this pump was green, and Ernie’s was red, everything else seemed to check out. Ernie buckled his precious cargo into the front seat for the 90 minute drive back to the farm. And that’s about all that gets done “after lunch.”


Ernie's precious cargo belted in and ready for the ride back to the vineyard.

Then next morning it is installation time! A few parts specific to the Turbo-mist application needed to be swapped over from the old pump to the new one. The water manifolds were quick AND easy. All was going well until the drive sprocket had to be removed from the old pump and affixed to the new pump. Oh fudge. But Ernie didn’t say fudge.
 
Farming is a fairly basic proposition. Legal contracts can change that, but the agrarian endeavor is essentially digging in the dirt, tending whatever grows up and then trying to consume it. Dogs also have a simplistic view of their condition. When they see something new they either want to eat it or mate with it. And rhubarb DOES taste different if you own a dog.


Drive sprocket and slip bushing before assembly.

Ernie has adopted the Sherlock Holmes approach to farming. Once you remove the impossible, all that remains is the improbable. The pump’s drive sprocket is held onto the 6 spline shaft with a slip bushing. The outside diameter of the shaft is just a micrometer larger than the inside diameter of the slip bushing. The idea is that the slip bushing slides over the shaft with the sprocket attached. The tight tolerances keep everything from moving around.
 

Installing drive sprocket using percussive maintenance.

A final call to the Turbo-mist guys. “No, you should not have to go to a machine shop to press the drive sprocket on.” The only solution left was percussive maintenance. Once the splines were aligned in the bushing, it was tap, tap, tap with a small hammer. It actually started to “slip” onto the shaft!
 
Excited and encouraged, Ernie found the next bigger hammer, pow, pow, pow. A little more progress, but that was the end of the low hanging fruit. The next 90 minutes yielded another 1.5 inches of “slip” and the sprocket was finally installed on the new pump. Hallelujah! The sprayer is operational – for now.
 

Successful pump transplant.
 
Well look at the time! It’s numbers time!
 
May vintage 2021 was a fairly moderate month. Our high temperature was 92.7 degrees F recorded on May 31st at 5:24 pm. Our low temperature for the month was 33.8 degrees F recorded on May 8th at 5:48 am. May Degree Days were 281.2 bringing the season total to 518.0 Degree Days.


Year to date May Degree Day comparison.

We did not record any measurable precipitation for the month of May. We are not saying there wasn’t any, we just didn’t record any. This anomaly simply highlights the undeniable fact that for all of the statistical analysis you read, or are forced to absorb, it is all based on data collection.
 
And in some cases, data collection includes adjustments or “normalizing” of the underlying data. In other cases, data anomalies can result from: not observing or recording the data, just making it up as you see fit or deleting nonconforming data points. The final analysis may be distinct and unambiguous, but the underlying data often illuminate shades of gray.
 
Not unlike the likelihood of a “Double CGG” sequence occurring naturally. It could happen, but never has. Once the impossible is eliminated, all that remains is the improbable.
 
Based on his time abroad, Ernie has developed the European corollary: The facts, however interesting they may be, are irrelevant to the narrative.
 
Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie

Thursday, June 3, 2021

Amalie Robert Estate Vintage Update: The Great Cluster Pluck in 105 Days - and Counting

Hello and Welcome, 

 

Flowers in Pommard Clone Pinot Noir. 
 
It seems everyone is back to work after the long weekend, including the vines. It’s not like you are going to tell 20 year old Pommard vines when to flower, especially those grafted onto 5C. But in the course of putting up our first set of trellis wires, they have decided now is their time. On June 1st we spied our first Pinot Noir flowers, and it was 103 degrees. We chose to commemorate the event with a glass of Pinot in Pink Rosé!

Winemaking: The Continuation of Terroir by Other Means.® A Farming bLOG (FLOG) communication from Dena & Ernie. Estate grown Amalie Robert Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the Willamette Valley. Have a look and see what we see on Instagram @AmalieRobert Estate. We are posting on Facebook and LinkedIn. Check us out if you can. We can use all the likes we can get…
 
The Harvest Window Appears
 
Over the past 30 years or so, Pinot Noir wine berries in the Willamette Valley have usually achieved full aroma and flavor development 105 days AFTER flowering. So, we can now pencil in a harvest window, and that is a handy thing to have as we move through the growing season.
 
From the vine’s point of view, they are simply trying to ripen their seeds and attract some creature to deposit them hither and yon so they can reproduce. Kinda makes you feel bad for seedless grapes.
 
We just want to make wine. If you are into the Julian calendar, as we are, you can take June 1st (Day 152) and add 105 growing season days to get Day 257. And that day is the first potential day of harvest, September 14th. You can check our Julian Calendar math here.
 

Stages of wine berry flowering.

But first we must have pollination. Flowers are nice, but we are not going to have any clusters to pluck if there is no pollination. Good news is that the weather is supposed to be nice and wine berries are self-pollinating – they do not depend on bees as most other crops do for pollination.
 
After a couple weeks of pollination, we can check out the fruit set. The flowers that do not pollinate are called shatter and they fall off the stem. What is left are tiny green wine berries. Quantitatively speaking, if there are “a lot” of them, then the “fruit set” was good. If there are only a few, then you have a “poor set”.
 
The quality of fruit set gives you an idea of how many tons of wine berries you have on the vine. Watching the temperature over the next 45 days gives you an idea of how hot the growing season may be. If you are paying attention, somewhere in there is a plan to thin the potential crop load to match the growing season.
 

Flowers in Dijon Clone Chardonnay.

Vintage 2021 reminds us of vintage 2009 where we harvested early because the vines flowered early. And thus denied the birds their opportunity to freely feast upon our wine berries. It was a wonderful thing. However, in 2011 we flowered in July, and harvest was not scheduled until late October. The birds were back early that year with a vengeance (and friends and relations) when several TONS of wine berries took flight.
 
That’s what’s in store for us. Along with everything else Mother Nature and the farming endeavor can send our way. What are you going to be doing in 105 days?

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie