Amalie Robert Estate Culinary Inclinations: Rosé

Hello and Welcome,  

This is an Amalie Robert Estate Culinary Inclinations: Rosé. A FLOG Communication (Farming bLOG) from Dena & Ernie @AmalieRobert Estate. Oregon Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. 

We are introducing our Culinary Inclinations Series with one of the most versatile wine categories of all time - Rosé. We took a stroll back though our past releases to share our culinary inclinations. As our national pandemic rolls on, the time spent in our own kitchen increases and we thought a little culinary voyeurism might be a welcome thing.

Sadly, we mark this first communication with the passing of Sir Thomas Sean Connery. Our favorite 007 James Bond departed on a rare October Blue Moon, All-Hallows Eve 2020. Diamonds are forever and timeless style never goes out of fashion.

 

Speaking of style, how did this iconic 6’2” Scotsman manage to fit into the most iconic of sports cars, the Aston Martin DB5? The steering wheel may be on the wrong side, but the Champagne was always chilled. We imagine it was a fine vintage Rosé.

 

 
 

Consider this, there is no Rosé variety. Virtually any wine berry with a hued skin can be coaxed into a Rosé wine. Stylistically these wines can be fermented dry or left with a little sweetness, fermented in stainless steel, concrete or oak barrels. Not unlike our former selves running loose in the candy store, you just want to try them all!

 

Rosé is the “right up until” wine in the kitchen at Amalie Robert Estate. A glass of Rosé is just right as we transition from winegrower or winemaker to culinary genius. Offering more than an elegant white wine, but not overly so, Rosé can offer the right balance right up until it is time for the main course. Or with a little pre-planning the main course is ideally paired with Rosé.

 

Pinot in Pink is our Rosé of Pinot Noir fermented in stainless steel after limited juice exposure to the skins. The result is a light bodied and refreshing wine with purity of fruit, a rich mid-palate due to neutral oak aging and a lingering finish. After all, this is Pinot Noir!

 

Pinot in Pink Pinot Noir Rosé is about as alluring as a wine can be. It answers the question “Who are you?” with the most welcoming of responses, “Who would you like me to be?” Equally at ease in public for a carefree rendezvous at a local café, or a more private setting on the back patio as the sun eases below the ridgeline. A charcuterie board? I thought you would never ask!

 

Break out from the daily routine. Finished with the work routine and need a little inspiration transitioning into your culinary genius role for the evening meal? Pinot in Pink is there for you. And if it is a nice fillet of Pacific Northwest salmon or Norwegian steelhead that has captured your fancy, well then, a quick stemware change is all that is needed to go from casual to elegant. From pretty in pink to strawberry blonde in the blink of an eye, providing the collars and cuffs match. What’s it to be tonight?

 

Culinary Inclinations from Amalie Robert Estate: Rosé. Here is a look at our culinary inclinations hoping to pique your culinary curiosity.

 

Pinot in Pink is about that special place that takes you back to simpler times. Tangy cheeses, cured meats and crusty bread from the hamper set out on a grassy bank complement a burbling stream and the wispy clouds ever changing upon an eternal blue canvas. This is your chance to be released from the daily burden of reality, if only for a short time.

 

Picnic pack this – Goat cheese brie, golden raspberries and rosemary garlic baguette. Poached white king salmon topped with black sesame seeds and dusted with smoked paprika. Grilled vegetables and pickled Cipollini onions accompanied by balsamic vinaigrette dipping jus. Don’t forget the corkscrew…

 

The picnic hamper essentials of fresh apples, Gruyere cheese and crusty bread can be augmented with a charcuterie board of cured meats, pâtés, and terrines with a few red cents’ worth of caramelized sweet onion jam. For the white linen picnic gathering bring Copper River smoked salmon palmiers and grilled vegetables drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

 

Once you move past the obligatory cured meats and fragrant cheeses with fresh strawberries and Asian pear, check out the smoked duck breast salad with crumbled goat cheese and dried cranberries. Smoked black cod with mild blue cheese and tangerine segments is a fine substitution. And yes, it is 5:00 somewhere.

 

It’s 5:00 right farmin’ now! Simply think of that special place and put yourself in the picture with your toes in the sand. This wine’s potential is only limited by the breadth and depth of your imagination. But recall the wise words of Alexander Pope from 1711, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” And that is why, we have virtual reality.

 

Bring on the cheese board adorned with cow, goat and sheep’s milk cheeses, set aside a spot for some pâtés, Parma ham and pistachios. So many to try and imagine all the possible combinations! If you have some time on your hands and the opportunity to impress, try your hand at a summer paella featuring rabbit, andouille sausage, and fresh mussels. But be careful, they will be back…

 

Chairman of the Nosh Board. Imagine a painter’s palette and substitute the brilliant colors with your favorite nibbles. Brilliant red peppadew peppers, duck prosciutto, tangy jalapeño red onion jam, triple cream bleu cheese, garlic confit in duck fat, rosemary olive oil crostini, smoked golden trout, olive oil and salt grilled summer squash, 12-month Manchego cheese and the ever abundant olive bowl filled with jewels from all over the world – pitted or not, but don’t comingle.

 

If there were ever to be a definitive paella wine, it would have to be Rosé. And from the great Pacific Northwest, it most certainly would showcase the charms and elegance of Pinot Noir. Surely the traditional paella preparation must be respected, however adding in local, fresh ingredients makes it your own. Our secret substitutions are duck stock and pecorino cheese (Manchego also works well, quite well). A year-round dish that celebrates food, friends, and Rosé. Note: No one has ever said, “Wow, you made too much!”

 

And we saved the most intriguing wine for last, the 2018 Bellpine Pearl Blanc de Noir. Made from nearly equal parts of whole cluster pressed wings of Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir, “The Pearl” is a still white wine from these noble red varieties.

 

While the color of Rosé wines is of personal preference, so are the seemingly endless nosh possibilities. We like smoked duck breast and Manchego cheese with fresh ripe raspberries and tart apple alongside a sourdough baguette. A freshly snipped rose completes the ensemble – but of what color?

 

White King Salmon sashimi, spot prawn sushi with roe or seared ahi tuna in sesame oil provide Blanc de Noir contrasts commensurate with the wine’s hidden charms.

 

An aperitif wine served with oysters on the half, caviar and the standard accoutrements, or smoked black cod accompanied by julienned sundried tomatoes, basil pesto, 6-month Manchego and herbed goat cheese crisps.

 

As November leads to December we will close out 2020 and may face the specter of a contested election. From Russia with love...

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie 

Amalie Robert Estate Portfolio Focus: Pinot Meunier - 2018 Vintage Just Released!

Hello and Welcome,

This is a portfolio focus on Pinot Meunier from @AmalieRobert Estate. A FLOG Communication. 

Pinot Meunier, the hidden gem of Champagne, is the subject of our Portfolio Focus. Most prominently, Pinot Meunier is one of three grapes grown in Champagne, along with Chardonnay and assemblage. Pinot Noir, to make the region’s most interesting wines. While rarely a single variety bottling, and never included in a Blanc de Blanc, Pinot Meunier is, of course, often part of the final

And while Dena does have a verifiable addiction to Champagne (we produce the Bellpine Pearl – more on that in a bit) we choose to vinify Pinot Meunier as a still red wine. But never that much of it. Our half acre of vines from Block 1 usually produces 3 to 4 barrels of wine and that’s it for the whole year, for the whole country and Hawai’i too!

Oh, and let’s cover the pronunciation, it’s a French thing. Pinot Meunier (Pee-no MUH-n’yay) 'Meunier' means 'miller' in English. The miller is the guy grinding grain into flour. The vine has this name because the clusters are small and pinecone shaped like Pinot Noir, but the leaves have the appearance of a dusting of flour, hence the name miller or Meunier.

In neighboring Austria Pinot Meunier is known as the Miller’s Burgundy. Also, the feminine form is 'meunière', which you may have seen on a menu. White fish such as sole is dredged in flour, pan fried in butter and served with the pan drippings, parsley and lemon. Voilà, sole meunière!

Pinot Meunier wine, however, is our Portfolio Focus. For those of you who love the transparency of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier will absolutely drive you wild! As a close cousin, or parent of Pinot Noir, the wine’s color is often as light or even lighter and brighter than Pinot Noir. That is the natural color of the wine and we celebrate it!

From a winemaking point of view, our goal is to showcase the elegance and purity of Pinot Meunier and present it as a young wine. We ferment with indigenous yeast and without any stem inclusion so as not to introduce harsh stem tannins that will take years to evolve. We barrel mature in old, neutral French oak, more of a holding vessel than to influence the aroma, flavor or texture with toasty new oak. The wine is bottled within a year of harvest unfined and unfiltered. It can be considered vegan.

Now, if we have done our job right in the vineyard and winery, the aromas of ripe red raspberries and rose petals should be prominent. Just as pretty as the day is long. On the first sip, the wine is lithe and juicy, colonizing your palate by stimulating all the unsatiated nooks and crannies. And while this is all proper and pleasant, the reason Pinot Meunier is a Champagne grape is about to be revealed. The wine’s finish is a crescendo of firm tannin and punctuating acidity, stimulating the senses and looking for a perfect pairing. It could be with you!

Here at the vineyard, Pinot Meunier finds a good home with salmon, a charcuterie board, warm duck confit topped salad, or maybe just about a quarter to 5 on a Friday night. Pinot Meunier, alone and unafraid, brought to you by Block 1.

And what about the Bellpine Pearl? Ernie made a deal with Dena that we would not produce sparkling wine, but instead would focus on making excellent Pinot Meunier red wine. And if that worked out Ernie would buy Dena Champagne. Rosé Champagne to be specific and Pinot Meunier Rosé Champagne if it could be found domestically. Or maybe a weekend shopping spree in Paris would suffice.

Right. So, a couple years back our 2016 Pinot Meunier earned the highest review ever for an Oregon Pinot Meunier at 92 points from @VinousMedia - these are people who know good wine. Dena called in her marker and Ernie went shopping for Champagne, Pinot Meunier Rosé Champagne to be specific. And that was the day the Bellpine Pearl took conceptual form.

Simply put, the Bellpine Pearl is a Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir still wine. It is made from the early harvest of the wings of both the Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir clusters. If the planets ever align and the moon is right, there could be a secondary fermentation leading to sparkling wine. But not yet.

The Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir grapes are separately, very gently, whole berry pressed with very little skin contact time. The free run juice is then combined and co-fermented to dryness in stainless steel. We bottle very soon after fermentation to capture as much of the carbon dioxide in the wine as possible.

While the wine is not effervescent it does take some time to integrate. Much like Champagne, carbon dioxide then takes on the role of stewardship as the wine slowly unwinds through bottle maturation until eventually the carbon dioxide is fully depleted.

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie

About Amalie Robert Estate:

It was the spring of 1999 when we happened upon Bob and his Montmorency cherry orchard. We had been studying soils and climate in the Willamette Valley and doing our level best to evaluate as many wines as we could. It didn’t take too long before Ernie said, “Bob, I got here too late. You have your cherry orchard sitting on top of my vineyard.”

We chose the Willamette Valley because it was the last best place on the planet to grow Pinot Noir. All of the other planets had one issue or another - soils, climate or the proximity to established markets were some of the most significant drawbacks.

And so it began. April of 1999 is when we became cherry growers for just long enough to bring in the harvest. From there on out, our singular focus was to develop our 60 acre property into a world class vineyard and traditional winemaking operation that we would own and operate ourselves.

The benefit of starting with a cherry orchard is that you are not buying someone else’s vineyard and their deeply rooted mistakes. You have the opportunity to make your own mistakes - and learn from them. From those humble beginnings we decided on our own rootstocks, vineyard spacing, trellis design, varieties of wines to grow and their specific clones. We learned how to farm wine to showcase the inherent qualities of our vineyard. We had help from some great and patient mentors including Bruce Weber, Dick Erath, Mike Etzel, Steve Doerner, and many, many others.

When it came time to design the winery, we only wanted to build one, so we found the best architect with the most experience in the Willamette Valley and that was Ernie Munch. Aside from the aesthetics and site placement, the guiding principle was gravity flow. Our crown jewel is the 1,200 tons of below grade concrete that maintains our naturally climate conditioned barrel cellar and the 500 or so barrels entrusted to mature our wines.

And what about the name? Amalie Robert is a combination of Dena's middle name, “Amalie” (pronounced AIM-a-lee) and Ernie's, “Robert.” We are them.

Amalie Robert Estate Portfolio Focus: Pinot in Pink Rose

Hello and Welcome, 

  

This is a portfolio focus on Pinot in Pink Rosé  from Amalie Robert Estate. A FLOG Communication. 

These are the Dog Days of summer. No matter how you do it, the rule is to stay cool. A crisp refreshing Rosé can go a long way to achieving that goal. It is the perfect summer accessory for your poolside table, or alfresco dining.

Pinot in Pink is a Rosé of Pinot Noir fermented in stainless steel after limited juice exposure to the skins. The result is a light bodied and refreshing wine with purity of fruit, a rich mid-palate and a lingering finish. After all, this is Pinot Noir!

Here is a refreshing summer wine that respects you for who you are, whenever you can find the time. Perhaps you are dockside with oysters and a tantalizing Granita, or along the river with fresh strawberries, cheese and a baguette. Surely, the evolving colors and shapes of the ever-changing sunset complement your style.

And if you are ready for a little summer intrigue, we would like to introduce you to the Bellpine Pearl Rosé. Bellpine Pearl is a pale Rosé made from gently pressed wings of Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir. We were on our way to making a sparkling wine and stopped here.

Both Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir clusters have small fruiting tendrils or “wings”. These wings typically flower about a week or so after the main cluster. And as you would expect, they ripen about a week or so after the main cluster.

We leave them to slow down sugar accumulation. Then just before harvest time we thin the wings off. However, we found the flavor and acid profile of these Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir wings to be perfect for an elegant, stainless steel fermented dry Rosé.

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie

About Amalie Robert Estate:

It was the spring of 1999 when we happened upon Bob and his Montmorency cherry orchard. We had been studying soils and climate in the Willamette Valley and doing our level best to evaluate as many wines as we could. It didn’t take too long before Ernie said, “Bob, I got here too late. You have your cherry orchard sitting on top of my vineyard.”

We chose the Willamette Valley because it was the last best place on the planet to grow Pinot Noir. All of the other planets had one issue or another - soils, climate or the proximity to established markets were some of the most significant drawbacks.

And so it began. April of 1999 is when we became cherry growers for just long enough to bring in the harvest. From there on out, our singular focus was to develop our 60 acre property into a world class vineyard and traditional winemaking operation that we would own and operate ourselves.

The benefit of starting with a cherry orchard is that you are not buying someone else’s vineyard and their deeply rooted mistakes. You have the opportunity to make your own mistakes - and learn from them. From those humble beginnings we decided on our own rootstocks, vineyard spacing, trellis design, varieties of wines to grow and their specific clones. We learned how to farm wine to showcase the inherent qualities of our vineyard. We had help from some great and patient mentors including Bruce Weber, Dick Erath, Mike Etzel, Steve Doerner, and many, many others.

When it came time to design the winery, we only wanted to build one, so we found the best architect with the most experience in the Willamette Valley and that was Ernie Munch. Aside from the aesthetics and site placement, the guiding principle was gravity flow. Our crown jewel is the 1,200 tons of below grade concrete that maintains our naturally climate conditioned barrel cellar and the 500 or so barrels entrusted to mature our wines.

And what about the name? Amalie Robert is a combination of Dena's middle name, “Amalie” (pronounced AIM-a-lee) and Ernie's, “Robert.”