Hello and Welcome,
The Air Quality Index (AQI) has been moderate for
the Willamette Valley - under 100. That is mostly due to the Jet Steam
providing sanctuary in the form of a south easterly flow bringing fresh air
from the Gulf of Alaska. There have been clouds, but still no rain. Things
would be different if we ran the zoo. At least we would like to think they
would be.
THE BIG PICTURE
Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, Dijon Clone 114.
Our quest is to rescue these wine berries at the peak of aroma and flavor
development, and then ferment the sugar out of them. It’s The Great Cluster
Pluck, Charlie Brown! And it is closer than you might think.
The Perp-Walk Line-up
That’s the one! The second one from the left. Yes, I am sure of it!
Yellow jackets, which are actually classified as “predatory social wasps of the genera Vespula”
are an ever-present part of the winegrowing endeavor. But we know their
weakness and now is the time we exploit that weakness to our full advantage.
They like salmon. Fresh Pacific Northwest salmon is their thing, and our thing
too. Ernie does this very simply with sprigs of variegated lemon thyme, smoked
Paprika and a dusting of ground ginger. Convection roast on 325 for about 20
minutes while a cool vintage Pinot Noir is opened and set to breathe. We might
have a sip, or maybe two, to verify the provenance, and you can too!
Yellow jackets are not so particular. A few scraps of fish from around the fins
or off the bones is all they need. Dena packs those scraps into the standard,
vertical yellow jacket traps and hangs them off the south facing metal end
posts at first light.
Walk by after a few hours of direct sunlight, and WHOA! The scent of freshly
“sun ripened” salmon is overwhelming. Yellow jackets are coming out of the
blackberry bushes to get a piece of that action! Once the traps are full, Dena
soaks them overnight in a bucket of water and RELOADs for the next day. While
the number of yellow jackets we take from the overall population may be
insignificant, it is a moral victory.
Our zoo would not allow yellow jackets to free range over the grounds. However,
there would be a yellow jacket viewing area. The viewing area would be just
outside of the glassed in, fully enclosed Yellow Jacket Experience exhibit.
This exhibit would allow humans to interact with all 4 species of yellow
jackets in their natural habitat. The climatic conditions would be set to
Willamette Valley Pinot Noir harvest conditions. That’s when the yellow jackets
are at their zenith and most aggressive. Fresh salmon scraps and epi-pens
available for purchase. Don’t delay, get YOURS today!
Winemaking: The Continuation of Terroir by Other Means. ®
Will you be in our area? Amalie Robert Estate is open by appointment for
vineyard tours and tastings. Select your preferred day and time with the Big Red Button.
National Pinot Noir Day is Wednesday, August 18th.
If Pinot Noir had an American birthday, this would be it. Most of us hope for a
Friday or Saturday birthday, so we can let loose on that one day of the year
that is uniquely our own. And you can rest assured that we would celebrate
National Pinot Noir Day EVERYDAY if we ran the zoo. And the clocks would all be
set to 5:00.
Pinot Noir has no such constraints. While the grape growing regions of the
world may be due for some re-alignment (see below), the diversity of Pinot Noir
is unparalleled in the wine world today. Choose from Willamette Valley Pinot
Noir (our favorite), a Kiwi wine from New Zealand, a Beaune “1er” from
Burgundy, or a lesser-known but equally interesting growing region.
Thanks to modern implementations of traditional techniques such as whole
cluster fermentations and the use of indigenous yeast, Pinot Noir that has been
grown, fermented and bottled over the half century is at its historical peak of
viticultural and winemaking quality. But climatically speaking, the wines of
the last few vintages stand apart.
Extended Heat and Fire Watch
A recent announcement from NOAA has proclaimed July, vintage 2021 to be the hottest
month in recorded history – for the ENTIRE planet. That is certainly
some achievement. And for the first time ever, there is smoke at the North
Pole. That smoke is from the fires that are burning the forests and melting the
permafrost in Siberia.
We suffered a relapse of the June 110+ degree heat event in mid-August. And the
forecast was actually pretty good. Our high temperatures beginning Wednesday,
August 11th were 109, 110, 107 and 99. Once again it was off to the
air-conditioned safety of the Independence Hotel.
The drought will continue until the rainfall resumes. Maybe September, maybe
October. Now, let’s see here, what comes after heat and drought?
Oh, that’s right, lightning and wildfires. Here is a graphic of the Pacific
Northwest wildfires. While all fires are of concern, the fires we are
monitoring are east and southeast of Salem.
The wildfires south of us around Eugene and northern California continue to
expand. Washington state also has wildfires burning as does Canada. The Jet
Stream continues to swap smoke particulate matter up and down the West Coast.
Our only reprieve is when the Jet Stream shifts and fills the Willamette Valley
with fresh cold air from the Gulf of Alaska.
The conditions that exist now are eerily similar to the conditions that doomed
our vintage 2020, but happening a few weeks earlier. The final “blow” that doomed vintage 2020 for us
came from the east. An arctic blast of low pressure frigid cold air came south
out of Canada through Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. That forced a tremendous
volume of air, at a very high rate of speed, to the West Coast.
That strong 60+ mile an hour east wind acted like a bellows that took those
small wildfires east of Salem and turned them into ravaging wildfires. The
smoke of which was on a direct path to us. Wildfires consume whatever lies in
their destructive path from trees to buildings to cars to houses and more. The
smoke produced is tainted by the fuel that was incinerated.
What Does This Mean and Why Should I Care?
What everyone we know wants to know is, what does that mean for Willamette
Valley Pinot Noir, vintage 2021. Well, one thing that might come out of
this is a ride on a Woolly Mammoth. It seems the Siberian fires are thawing permafrost and revealing some
incredibly well preserved pre-historic animals. These animals have
fur, skin, internal organs and DNA impeccably preserved.
And as humans being humans, it is only a matter of time before someone clones a
pre-historic animal. But please, leave the viruses back in the stone age. The pre-historic Cave Lion Encounter will be near the
Yellow Jacket Experience exhibit - it takes a different kind of
mindset to enjoy these types of events. But that is all part of the zoo
wonderment – something for everyone, including the exhibits.
Hot, dry and smoky conditions are not new to the Willamette Valley. After
typhoon Pabuk doused vintage 2013, we have had several vintages of heat and
smoke-filled skies. Dry summers and some measure of drought have also been
common place. But if you have been paying attention, you have adapted to this
new set of growing conditions.
Our vineyard mitigation strategies of removing leaves from the top of the
canopy, keeping leaves to shade our fruit zone and mowing the grass down seem
to be helping preserve soil moisture. Our canopy is still green and
functioning. Planting 5C rootstock, the deepest rooting of them all, has been a
viticultural stroke of genius. Access to deep soil moisture means the wine
berries are continuing their natural ripening curve including color
transformation from green to pink to mauve to the final destination – Pinot
Noir purple.
Desiccation is a major concern heading into The Great Cluster Pluck without
meaningful rainfall. The vines will rob water from the wine berries to cool the
leaves if they can’t get it from the roots. Desiccation leads to high sugar
concentration without commensurate aroma and flavor. High sugar concentration
leads to high alcohol potential and early harvest dates. Early harvest dates
can mean unripe aroma and flavor. If this were all a word puzzle, it could
spell “What you got yourself there is a nice little Rosé vintage.” Not all bad,
it goes with the sunset…
Mid-August Degree Day Update
Vintage 2021 continues to bring the heat. Once again, in the first half of
August we see extreme daytime high temperatures and intolerable nighttime low
temperatures.
We have accumulated 323 Degree Days for the first 15 days of August. The high
temperature was 109.0 degrees recorded on August 21st at 5:12 pm.
The low temperature was 49.6 degrees recorded on August 8th at 5:00
am. Total heat accumulation for vintage 2021 through August 15th now
stands at 1,981 Degree Days.
Mid-August 2021 Degree Days of 1,981 compared to full month August Degree Days for prior vintages.
Here is actual data collected at the Portland airport from NOAA that shows the frequency of 90 degree or
hotter days from June through mid-August. The pink bars represent each vintage,
and the blue line is the 10 year rolling average.
While the detailed analysis and executive summary is a task left to the reader
we can clearly see, that with the exception of vintage 1951, 1953 and 1998,
there is never an “average” year where the trend line equals the yearly data
point. Note: Vintages 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2012 form a nice little data
cluster. And made elegant wines…
Thing
One and Thing Two,
Just YOU wait until we run the zoo!
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