Amalie Robert Estate: 2021 The Feast of St. Valentine's Day Survival Guide

Hello and Welcome, 

We have a VERY SPECIAL gift to celebrate in the year 2021 and that is Valentine’s Day is on a Sunday! Instead of a hustle and bustle last minute event, you have ALL DAY to celebrate! And we have a few tips and ideas to share on how to do just that. Our first suggestion is to not lose your head. 

 

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. 

 

The feast of St. Valentine of February 14 was first established in 496 AD by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among all those "... whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God." And this is the very reason that prior to 2021, indoor dining on February 14^th was so very popular. This year, indoor dining will still be popular, just that it will be in-house indoor dining. 

 

Well, some of those acts of Valentine were also known to Claudius the Cruel of Rome. Sometime around the year 270 AD, Claudius the Cruel was in the conquering business and to be successful, he needed a strong army. However, he was having a difficult time finding volunteers for his campaigns. He reasoned that the young men of Rome were unwilling to join his army due to the strong attachment to their loved ones. A reasonable conclusion to be sure.

 

Claudius chose to rectify this problem by banning all marriages and engagements in Rome. While somewhat of a non sequitur, still that did not send the young men of Rome flocking to join with him. After some time, Claudius discovered he had a priest undermining his efforts. It was in fact true that the soon to be martyred St. Valentine was continuing to perform marriages.

 

Certainly not an indecisive man, Claudius ordered Valentine arrested and put to death. But not before being beaten with clubs, stoned (in the historical sense) and then decapitated. This last step was most likely meant to send a strong message that further activity of this nature would be frowned upon.

 

While awaiting his fate, Valentine is rumored to have written a farewell note. The note was to the jailer’s daughter which had looked after him during his brief incarceration. Kind of a pre-Stockholm Syndrome sort of relationship it would seem. He signed the note “From Your Valentine.” That phrase is in common use today and now you know where it may have originated.

 

 

Valentine was put to death on February 14^th in the year 270 AD. But it seems Claudius could not let him go, as is evidenced by him keeping Valentine’s head. Eventually, St. Valentine's remains were deposited in St Anton's Church, Madrid, where they have lain since the late 1700’s. They were a present from the Pope to King Carlos IV and have been displayed publicly since 1984. Please let this bit of history inform your gift giving choices this Valentine’s Day.

 

 

Roses are red, Violets are purple

You are so sweet, and so is maple surple!

 

Being Sunday and all, your feast of St. Valentine’s Day begins with brunch! Brunch is that luxurious word that means so many things that are just inherently understood. Leisure on display with a late alarm, deliciously sweet and savory pastries, fresh fruits, eggs extraordinaire and perhaps a glass of Champagne to greet the afternoon. And most of all, a little gift tucked into the mid-morning rapture. Choose wisely.

 

 

Somewhere along the way, Ernie picked up a set of heart shaped ramekins. These are the perfect vessels to deliver a bouffant “egg extraordinaire.” This will take a little forethought and some advance preparation. As this is an annual event, you will have time. Since there is no such thing as left-over hash browns, roast a couple extra “creamer” red potatoes the night before and retrieve them while they are still a bit firm.

 

Here we go. In a medium skillet, add a dollop of duck fat, butter or olive oil. (Note: Lipitor is now widely available in generic form with little or no co-pay.) Cube the potatoes in ¼ inch squares and add them to the pan over medium heat. Add your intended’s choice of preferred omelet vegetables diced small, such as peppers, onions and mushrooms. Add a dash of smoked HOT paprika for color and heat. Turn, flip or mix to cook evenly, but not overly so. Is that a Champagne pop I heard? No? Why not?

 

While this mixture is heating, grab a mason jar with a sealing ring and lid. Crack 2 eggs, sans shell, and add a dollop of sour cream. Ernie likes to add some broccoli bits at this stage, but YOU certainly do not have to. Attach the sealing apparatus and pretend you are making an evening martini. Any more than 30 seconds though and the show gets kinda boring.

 

Remove the ramekins from the preheated oven. Split the potato and vegetable mixture evenly between the two ramekins, paying special attention that the are only about 75% full. The reason for this will become important soon. But don’t worry if they are too full, that is what’s known as a self-correcting situation.

 

Give your mason jar a final shake and then pour the contents all over the first ramekin. Crack another pair of eggs, shake and repeat. Top with a little freshly cracked black pepper and a dusting of paprika for color. Return to the oven and bake at 325 until you have achieved maximum bouffant! When they are bouff’d to your satisfaction, set them on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes before separating. This will take a total of about 30-45 minutes or so.

 

Everyone has moved on from the orange juice, so now would be a good time to sample the Champagne and prepare your desired breakfast animals (in whatever form they may take.) Fresh local fruits may be hard to find, so adopt a tropical locale with mangos, pineapple, strawberries and whatever else you can fit into a Champagne flute. Remember, fresh fruit is good for you and Champagne is the perfect delivery beverage.

 

And now the moment of truth - A card and a small gift. If executed properly, now might be the right time for a “nap” before dinner…

 

 

A Valentine’s Feast with the Hers and His Reserves – Amalie’s Cuvée and Estate Selection.

 

After having skillfully delivered brunch and engaging in a leisurely afternoon activity, thoughts turn to the Valentine’s Day dinner. Our suggestion for this menu is to stick with the tried-and-true cool climate varietals of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

 

Let’s Get Started. Smoked salmon, either hard smoked Alaskan salmon or lox style Atlantic salmon lend their charms to garlic parmesan crostini with fresh dill aioli and capers. Add a little soft blue cheese and things get a little funky-good as the salt from the cheese works its magic on the acid in the wine. This course pairs nicely with a BFC such as the Heirloom Cameo Chardonnay. Alternatively, a more steely interpretation of Chardonnay, the Dijon Clones, brings a little more focus and acidity to the event. This is a “hands-on” course, and we find that if you can eat it with your fingers, it just tastes better. The candles are a nice touch.

 

The Hers course is stuffed quail. There are all manner of combinations to choose from here, but there are three key components to any good stuffing. The first is the enticement and we like chanterelle or morel mushrooms for this. The next is the bitter green such as spinach or anything along those lines, maybe even kale. And we need a binder to hold this all together such as quinoa or polenta. A little manchego in the mix helps hold it all together and can dual as a snacking cheese. Munge all of that together with an optional egg, and you are ready to stuff the birds. Treat them to an olive oil spritz and a dusting of paprika on the way to the oven.

 

Amalie’s Cuvée is a natural pairing for this dish. You can trust that we have run repeated and replicated trials. Each and every vintage we put to the test comes through with flying colors. Amalie’s Cuvée is Dena’s barrel selection from our 35 acre estate vineyard that she helped plant back at the turn of the century. That should tell you two things. First thing is she has met the farming challenge head-on, and second, she knows where the Pommard is planted.

 

Yep, she is a Pommard girl – and you could be too! Every vintage we taste the wines in barrel to sort out who gets what. Each day that we taste, we focus on one of the three main clones we grow: Dijon clones, Pommard clone or Wadenswil clone. When it is all said and done, Pommard is the dominate clone in her blend with a little Dijon clone for texture and some Wadenswil clone to bring out her wild side. And its personal, Amalie is her middle name.

 

The His course is Steak Diane (from the Goddess of the hunt of Roman mythology.) While the preparation remains mostly the same, the protein can vary widely from beef to venison or buffalo. Since Ernie grew up in Montana where the buffalo roam, we are going to go with buffalo.

 

The advance ingredient preparation for Steak Diane allows for a table side implementation. A bit of strut, pomp and circumstance if you will. That being said, open flame in a confined space can have immediate and long-lasting consequences. Marriage proposals get delivered this way. Diana was also goddess of the moon. Recognize and respect that this is pretty powerful stuff we are offering up here.

 

Estate Selection is a masculine wine in touch with its feminine side, which is why it is the perfect pairing for Steak Diane, and candlelit settings. Ernie favors the wild side of Pinot Noir and that comes from his errant youth. Wadenswil clone provides that “color outside the lines” type palate profile. However as time has taken its toll, Ernie discovered the soothing nature that a little Pommard clone can offer. Add a little Dijon clone 667, which is the black sheep of the Dijon clone family, and that is a good first step in the blending trials. Of course, Dena has VETO power. So you know if the blend made it to the bottle, it has her stamp of approval. She is also the one person who runs the corker. We don’t get anywhere without her say so.

 

Chardonnay is not just for brunch in your Champagne. The variety that started the morning festivities, may also be the segue to the rest of your evening. We are talking about the once in a lifetime wine Pabuk’s Gift Late Harvest (Botrytis) Chardonnay.

 

This is going to take a little more than a little effort, so you may want to get started right away. The easy pairing is a blue cheese such as Stilton, or our preference Shropshire. But there is so much more that this wine has to offer.

 

Think goat cheese. Now think patisserie. Now put that together and start imagining goat cheese cheesecake with seared pineapple topping. Or a goat cheese flan on a cinnamon graham crust topped with Seville orange marmalade. People eat with their eyes first so your presentation and delivery, along with that very romantic card that you didn’t forget, are paramount.

 

While making this wine, Ernie implored the help of Dick Erath. The 2013 vintage provided the naturally occurring environmental factors to make an ethereal late harvest wine. Never before, and hopefully never again, will those growing conditions be repeated. With Dick as his conspiring winemaker, Ernie forged ahead with harvesting desiccated Chardonnay berries from the vines in November. Once in the press, it was a tough shlog, as raisins don’t put out a lot of juice. Undaunted he continued, as fools press on where angels fear to tread.

 

The juice was 44 Brix, for those who keep track. Ernie had experienced some out of this world Trockenbeerenauslese wines and they typically run in the 10% alcohol range. That was good enough for him and he arrested the fermentation with dry ice. Yeast don’t really care for that and they kinda packed it in right then and there. All went pretty well and soon it was time to bottle.

 

So Dick made the trek back to the winery with his girlfriend to see how Ernie’s effort had turned out. The look and smell of the wine passed muster and then everyone took a sip. Dick appeared pleasantly surprised and his girlfriend was complimentary. Ernie was beaming as his conspiring winemaker and early mentor had given him the nod for an effort that was far from guaranteed to succeed.

 

Dick then tilted his head and with a twinkle in his eye, looked at Ernie, then his girlfriend and said, “You know, this is the kind of wine that can be applied topically and removed orally.” And so, it is. Good luck Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky.

 

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie

Amalie Robert Estate Culinary Inclinations Series Part V: Fruits of the Sea and a Bottle of BFC

Hello and Welcome, 

  

It is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and the rainy season in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. What a perfect time to imagine a sunny (and dry) adventure at the other end of the world. Freshly caught and expertly prepared wild seafood and a bottle of Chardonnay will set you right. Please join us for our Culinary Inclinations Series Part V: Fruits of the Sea with a Bottle of BFC.

 

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.

 

“Hanging out” at the Boat Shed Café, South Island, NZ

 

Do you kinda wish you were someplace other than here? Jimmy Buffet sang about it on his White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean album. Seems apropos. You don’t have to stay home, but you can’t come here. While that may be so 2020, it still happens to be true if you want to travel and dine at the White House. That’s the one in New Zealand, on the north end of the North Island.

 

And if you do get to New Zealand, check out the Boat Shed Café at the north end of the South Island. They are quite literally “hanging out” over the bay. You can stay just down the road with the Honest Lawyer, ask for the bus driver’s suite. It is just about as cozy as 35 square feet can be! Been there, had that done to us. And while it was FANTASTIC, you have to leave the room if you want to change your mind. Yeah, it’s that small. The room, not your mind.

 

 

Dining at Home with Thoughts from Afar.

 

But no matter, you are there trying to make the best of it. We are here, trying to make it better. Freshly caught and Southern Hemisphere inspired seafood is our culinary inclination for today. Or “fruits de mer” (fruits of the sea) for those of you coping with current events in a French idiom.

 

 

Chardonnay is the world’s most abundantly planted wine grape variety. And for good reason. It can be one of the most enjoyable wines on the planet. Either by itself as we denude ourselves from the responsibilities of the world at large or indulge in a fabulous meal to celebrate simply being alive here in this place, at this time. And it just so happens that Chardonnay rhymes with Tuesday, and Wednesday and… No wonder it is so popular, it is a wine for all week. Truly a Festivus miracle!

 

The term Barrel FERMENTED Chardonnay (BFC) is somewhat cumbersome, so we use a TLA. Our BFC is called the Heirloom Cameo. One of the other alternatives is SFC, which you may have guessed is Stainless Steel Fermented Chardonnay. We do that too, and that wine is our Dijon Clones Chardonnay. (TLA is an acronym for Three Letter Acronym.) Our BFC is akin to White Burgundy, where the SFC is stylistically closer to Chablis.

 

Before we get too much farther down the rabbit hole, you may find yourself looking for a little inspiration. So chill, and maintain your BFC at an approximate temperature of 55 degrees, or SFC at about 45 degrees. When you feel the moment is right, pull the cork and enjoy the pleasures of BF or SF Chardonnay.

 

Barrel v Stainless Steel fermentation – what’s the difference and why should I care? Stylistically the SFC is clean, crisp and laser focused with palate cleansing acidity. A great wine to have at the raw bar with oysters, chilled shrimp or Uni, although this last one may be an acquired taste.

 

The BFC is like the old “E” ticket at Disney World, it can take you anywhere you want to go. Barrel fermentation adds scintillating aroma, breadth and depth to the palate and maintains the core of fruit, while tempering and lengthening the finish. Over the course of a meal, the BFC changes and develops more complexity. Due to this evolution, you never finish a meal with the same wine you start with. And that is a journey well worth savoring.

 

 

If you’ve got a minute, with nothin’ to lose, let us take you on a BFC Cruise. It’s a Deep Dive into cool climate Oregon Chardonnay. Or skip down and look for the pirate. We’ll catch up with you there.

 

 

We grow our Chardonnay in block 24, which is actually 5 rows of Dijon Clone Chardonnay 76 and 6 rows of Dijon Clone Chardonnay 95. All vines are grafted onto 5C rootstock and our soil is Bellpine series marine sediments. That becomes important at the end of the growing season when those deep roots are still pulling up water to keep our wine berries from desiccating. Nearing harvest, shallow rooted vines have a tendency to starve the vine for water and that results in the vine taking water from the wine berries. The sugar is still there, but there is less water resulting in a higher concentration of sugar and that converts to higher alcohol levels in the finished wines. That is not the desired result in either a SFC or BFC. If this triggers any wine growing related questions, you can click here to “Ask a Farmer”.

 

 

 

All of our Chardonnay wine berries are cluster plucked during the same harvest window and are field sorted. Then Ernie hauls only the best clusters up to the winery to get weighed. From there they are sorted and loaded into the press. There is NO CRUSHING. Our Chardonnay is whole cluster pressed. This processing method leads to less potassium in the juice resulting in a firmer, natural acidity in the finished wine. While it is true, crushing before pressing and using rice hulls in the press will give higher yields of juice, we feel it is lower quality juice.

 

Now this is the important part, pre-fermentation oxidation. Once all of the juice is pressed into a single tank, it settles for a couple of days. The juice is a very dark brown due to the bruising effect of the press and oxidation. Think of a piece of fruit that has been dropped, it turns brown in that spot AFTER you get it home. Especially pears and bananas as they look like they got caught in a street fight. A press is really a great big bruiser that also happens to extract the juice.

 

The idea is that you want all of this browning and oxidation to occur BEFORE the fermentation begins. The alternative is to have this process happen after fermentation - in the bottle. The French producers of White Burgundy have tried the other way and discovered Premature Oxidation. Premature Oxidation occurs when the juice was not permitted to complete oxidation before fermentation. This resulted in off color and aroma in the bottle, hence the term PREMOX.

 

Right. Now it is time to run the hose through the holes in the fermentation floor and gravity fill our 500 liter puncheon for the BFC and a couple of 1,000 liter stainless steel tanks for the SFC. Fermentation begins forthwith with the help of a fish tank heater to keep the yeast active until all of the glucose and fructose is converted to ethanol – no residual sugar. Then we add a little specialized bacteria to convert the malic acid to lactic acid. Once this malo-lactic (ML) conversion is complete (about 6 weeks or so) the wines take two completely different paths to bottling.

 

The SFC is separated from the yeast lees and moved up to the unheated fermentation area to begin cold stabilization. There is no further yeast lees contact. During the winter months, temperatures drop into the mid 20’s to lower 30’s and the wine goes through cold stabilization. The effect on the wine is to form little potassium crystals, known as wine diamonds. You may have seen these crystals in a bottle of white wine after it has been refrigerated. It happens, but we like it to happen before we bottle the wine. Next is a pass through a polish filter of 0.5 microns, then Ernie is filling bottles and Dena is stuffing in corks.

 

BFC 500 liter puncheon.

 

The BFC is in so such hurry. It is resting comfortably on its lees below ground along with about 400 barrels of Pinot Noir, Syrah and a few neutral barrels holding Pinot Meunier. But the BFC reigns supreme with the biggest barrel at 500 liters. Everything else is just 225 liters. The barrel maturation period lasts about a year, then it follows the same path to bottling as the SFC. As far as the bottling process goes, we begin with the current vintage SFC and follow with the prior vintage BFC.

 

Congratulations, you made it! Take a breath, or a sip as the case may be. We now return you to our Culinary Inclinations Series Part V: Fruits of the Sea with a Bottle of BFC.

 

 

Secrets of culinary inclinations were often spread by troubadours, roving medicine shows selling (snake oil) elixirs and other travelers. For people who inhabited far away islands, pirates were often a source of culinary information, along with the usual pillage and plunder. Maybe even pandemics. While COVID19 is not the world’s first pandemic, our global response to it is unique to our time. As we used to say, the questions don’t change but the answers do.

 

One thing that may surprise you is that the New Zealand Rock Lobsters (called crayfish by the Kiwis) have no claws. This is good and bad. Good in that after you handle a few live specimens, you will still be able to count to ten using only your fingers. Bad in that you are missing out on that excellent lobster claw meat. And good in that you will be able to prepare the rest of the meal employing fully functioning opposable thumbs.

 

Thanks to the pandemic, or tariffs and trade wars, or whatever, the Australians seem to be awash in these crustaceans. They lost access to an exceptionally large market and the locals are trying to pick up the slack.

 

Supply and demand, not just a good idea, but in fact an unwritten law, is taking its toll. Let’s try and help them if we can. Here’s how.

 

The first thing you will need to do is co-locate with your whole crayfish. We suggest a local purveyor, or you can harness the power of the internet to find suitable specimens that can be shipped directly to your door. And since it happens to be cold in most of the Northern Hemisphere, this should not pose a spoilage problem.

 

We are going to end up under the broiler, or out on the grill after someone scrapes off the snow, but first we are going to make a stop in a steaming pot of water. The secret to an irresistible cray tail is to give it a little time in steaming hot water. This method allows for the meat to cook through, thus preventing a disruption of your evening plan with trip to the emergency room.

Once thawed, anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes in about 2 inches of steaming hot water is just about right, depending on size. This leaves the meat slightly translucent, an ideal condition to finish under the broiler, unless you can actually get the grill to light. “When was the last time the propane tank was filled? Did you check the regulator? Maybe it is frozen.”

 

This next step is where we separate the gut line from the prized tail. Cut your cray lengthwise through the tail and remove the gut line. The meat should still be just a little underdone. The wine, chilling nicely at 55 degrees, most likely needs to be refreshed as you toast to your achievement. “It sure looks cold out there. Any luck with the grill, honey or should I just use the broiler?”

 

You may be in a holding pattern as the grill is yet to be confirmed. Use these few minutes to whip up a homemade aioli. Add a little Dijon mustard, white balsamic vinegar, raw egg yolk and roasted garlic to the blender. Have your best quality olive oil at the ready as you activate the blender. Slowly pour in the olive oil to ensure it is being incorporated and stop when you achieve the desired consistency. While the chances of getting the proportions and timing exactly right on the first attempt are not zero, they are very close to it. We suggest making a few trial attempts, with a sip of SFC inspiration, before the main event.

 

It’s time to make the call. This is your “grumpy lobster boat captain” Bill Belichick moment. While you have great confidence in the offense, 4^th and 20 from your own 15 yard line is not the time to go for it. You start the broiler and lure your grill mate back into the warm house. A little BFC will go a long way to provide soothing comfort. “No one will even notice. Your left eyebrow will grow back in no time.” You may need to find that reserve bottle, already at chill, in case you have to share.

 

Other culinary inclinations that do not lend themselves to the outdoor grilling experience (and the ensuing machinations) include pan seared scallops over black truffle risotto. There are only about 15 million Gordon Ramsey videos that demonstrate how to properly sear a scallop. Fried or baked sea salt and black pepper calamari with roasted red pepper aioli is another excellent pairing with your SFC.

 

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you can occasionally find white Chinook salmon. These are real Chinook salmon, but they do not process the color pigments from the crustaceans in their natural diet. This affects about 1 in 20 fish. The result is that their meat is milk white, but oh so delicious. Another Pacific Northwest favorite is steelhead. These are ocean going trout that swim back into fresh water to spawn. Norway and Scotland raise these fish for export and fresh fillets may be available in your local market. After planning the revolution, you may find frogs legs, Burgundy snails or a bucket of steamed mussels with crusty French bread to be in order. The use of excess butter and garlic is the key.

 

And let’s not forget the tastiest crustacean of all, the king crab. A product of cold Alaska waters these crabs make the meals of marriage proposals. To be offered sparingly and with a dedicated purpose in mind. Dungeness and other crabs are available seasonally in local markets. Crab cakes are another way to add your signature preparation to this delicious meat. Soft shell crabs are a once-a-year thing, so you will need to plan ahead. They do.

 

While a bit of a master class in execution, skewered prawns interleaved with prosciutto finished under the broiler are a tried-and-true way to get that new living room set, or big screen TV you have been eyeing all year. However, skewered prawns can be finished on the grill, so a little pre-planning is in order. An empty propane tank is probably the most effective deterrent to the entire grill saga. Strategy suggests letting the first glass of SFC work its magic before pointing out the empty propane tank situation.

 

Now the aioli is perfect and the table is set with the appropriate tools, accoutrements and BF or SF Chardonnay. The broiler is glowing red and ready to receive your bisected cray’s.

 

A little olive oil and a dusting of smoked paprika on the translucent meat is all you need to create the perfect presentation. A quick sip and in they go. This may not take much time, so be near the broiler with hot pads at the ready.

 

The sweet succulent meat separates easily from the shell, the wine gravity flows from bottle to glass, and you have just received notification that the grill sold on eBay. Well done. “Look outside honey. It is starting to snow, again…”

 

Chardonnay is there for you. Add a harvest bounty from the sea and let your culinary genius run wild.

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie

Amalie Robert Estate Culinary Inclinations Series Part III: Roasted Whole Duck and Pinot Noir

Hello and Welcome, 

  

This is the third segment in our Culinary Inclinations Series: Roasted Whole Duck and Pinot Noir. A FLOG communication (Farming bLOG) from Dena & Ernie @AmalieRobert Estate. Willamette Valley Oregon Pinot Noir. If you are anxiously awaiting the “Syrah and Lamb Love Chops” segment, it won’t be much longer. 

 

Before we begin, we would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! The year 2020 has shown itself to be a very “interesting” year, and yet there is so much to be thankful for. Sometimes it is hard to see the vines through the dense fog that covers the vineyard. But we know that they are there, lying in wait ready to spring forth in vintage 2021 with a full arsenal of agrarian vagaries.

 

We are very much looking forward to a new year - a new growing season, and we hope you too are excited about the new opportunities that await us all. Or said another way, the unforeseen challenges we will most assuredly be forced to endure. Two sides of the same coin, it just comes down to your perspective. As farmers, we are always mindful that if anything can go wrong, it will, at the most inopportune time causing the most amount of trouble and expense. And yes, it is true, Murphy was a farming optimist.

 

For at least the next few minutes, we know what you will be doing. We don’t know where you will be doing it - Google has that covered. We appreciate you sharing some eyeball time with us. Kind of like looking into a window, us from this side and you from that side.

 

 

The holidays are upon us! We begin with Thanksgiving which is conveniently scheduled on the fourth Thursday of November. But it wasn’t always that way. You can read the full story at the National Archives. Or just follow along with the cliff notes here:

 

It all started back in the summer of ‘89 when the Federal Congress passed a resolution asking that the President of the United States recommend to the nation a day of thanksgiving. George Washington then proclaimed Thursday, November 26, 1789 as a "Day of Publick Thanksgivin". It wasn't until President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Proclamation that Thanksgiving was regularly commemorated each year on the last Thursday of November.

 

In 1939, however, the last Thursday in November fell on the last day of the month. Concerned that the shortened Christmas shopping season might dampen the economic recovery, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a Presidential Proclamation moving Thanksgiving to the second to last Thursday of November. As a result of the proclamation, 32 states issued similar proclamations while 16 states refused to accept the change and proclaimed Thanksgiving to be the last Thursday in November. Dysfunction, it seems, was an inherent “feature” in our young republic and continues unabated to this very day.

 

Fixed it for you: To end the confusion, Congress decided to set a fixed-date for the holiday. On October 6, 1941, the House passed a joint resolution declaring the last Thursday in November to be the legal Thanksgiving Day. The Senate, however, amended the resolution establishing the holiday as the fourth Thursday, which would take into account those years when November has five Thursdays. The House agreed to the amendment, and President Roosevelt signed the resolution on December 26, 1941, thus establishing the fourth Thursday in November as the Federal Thanksgiving Day holiday. And if it works, stop fixing it.

 

Note that the very first government mandated Thanksgiving was on the 26^th day of the month, just like this year. And similar to this year, the 1775–1782 North American smallpox epidemic was most likely still imparting a sense of caution. That was 7 years’ worth, and we are just now rounding the corner on our first year. Social distancing, quarantines and masks were tried then as now, the significant difference being in the quality of the masks. For our post-modern pandemic, we have both red wine AND white wine masks. The rosé mask is an easy farming work around.

 

 

 

So, there it is. Now lets’ get to the bird! Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday. And while there are just a handful of countries that do celebrate their own interpretations of Thanksgiving, EVERYBODY is on the Black Friday sales!

 

Ben Franklin, it is rumored, had originally wanted the Turkey to be the national symbol. He was “cancelled”, and the Bald Eagle became our national symbol. But in that defeat, there was a Thanksgiving victory. No one would have feasted upon the national bird at Thanksgiving.

 

Now there are all kinds of birds in our great land that can be the centerpiece of our Thanksgiving Day celebration. Let’s break them down into upland game birds and waterfowl. Upland game birds can be as small as Bobwhite quail weighing in at about 6 ounces. They get their name from their distinct call, which you can hear here.

 

Then we have partridge, guineafowl, all manner of grouse including the Ptarmigan, several variants of pheasant, and the varied species of turkey. There are several heritage breeds to choose from including the Auburn, Buff, Black, Bourbon Red, Narragansett, Royal Palm, Slate, Standard Bronze, and Midget White. Heritage turkeys represent about 25,000 birds raised each year, where there are close to 200 MILLION industry raised Broad-Breasted turkey. Check your local (or UPS serviced) terroir for availability.

 

There are about 7 million wild turkeys roaming our United States each year. Turkeys are not native to Oregon, but two species, the Merriam and Rio Grande were introduced in the 1960’s. And yes they can fly, in fact they roost in trees to avoid the ground based predators that are looking for their own Thanksgiving feast.

 

And we get them in the vineyard from time to time. They are tall enough to pluck off a wine berry or two. As you can see the turkey on the right has not had any Pinot Noir, but the turkey on the left has had quite enough to boldly display his full mating plumage! It’s the same old story, just a different species… And she is having none of it.

When it comes to fowl, and we mean waterfowl, the White Pekin duck reigns supreme for a Thanksgiving celebration. But there are also the Moulard and Muscovy farm raised ducks. A goose is another option, however it is more attuned to the Christmas holiday.

 

The origins of the phrase “You are full of it” is in fact attributed to the Christmas goose. Dressing is a dried bread-based concoction that includes all manner of vegetables, spices and quite often an egg or two to bind everything together. This mixture is then placed into a baking dish and put into a 350 degree oven for about an hour. When this mixture is stuffed into the cavity of a bird, such as a goose, it is known as stuffing. The full, olde English phrase is “You are as full of $#it as a Christmas goose!”

 

Penguinos range from the wee little Fairly Penguins of Australia and New Zealand that may grow to reach 12 inches tall to the imposing Emperor Penguins of Antarctica who tower at 4 feet or more. They are flightless water birds that are always dapper and dashing, however not included in the following preparatory guidelines. And then there is Opus T. Penguin…

 

 

Once you have decided upon the appropriate fowl for your Thanksgiving Day celebration, the next task before you is acquisition. There are several avenues available including instore shopping, curbside pick-up, UPS shipping and the tried and mostly true, full immersion duck hunting experience.

 

Unlike fishing, duck hunting is a serious endeavor that may, or may not yield results. Wild ducks are typically harvested when they are in flight. Not so different from fishing, as fish are usually harvested when swimming in the water. Same theory, just a different medium. The duck hunter's job is to encourage any given duck to land upon the Earth, or in a waterway that may or may not be frozen over. This requires the duck hunter to co-locate at least somewhat close to the in-flight duck, while fully enjoying all of the inclement wind, rain, snow, sleet and potentially freezing temperatures. Nice day today, not too hot…

 

There are several ways a duck hunter may encourage a flock of ducks to interrupt their migratory prerogative to land. Food is always a good encouragement as is an open waterway when their feet begin to freeze. Note: it is not uncommon for a duck hunter to lose feeling in their toes and fingertips. Duck calls are another inducement to land, especially if there are decoys in the near vicinity. Hey, is that a corn field? It looks like a party!

 

When these methods fail, there is the old school fallback of an ounce and a quarter of number 5 pellets with a muzzle velocity of approximately 1,350 feet per second. This form of encouragement can result in a single member of the flock to lose altitude rather suddenly. This is when the savvy duck hunter has a well-trained dog or has invited along a fellow sportsman with a well-trained dog. The lesson here is do not go duck hunting without a proper duck retrieval strategy. Or maybe you find a mid-November swim to be just a prelude to the annual Polar Bear plunge… And then there is the gestalt of ice fishing, but that is a misery best left for another time.

 

The other, more sane acquisition method involves the internet and an online visit to the Maple Leaf Farms website where you can arrange for your freshly harvested duck to land on your doorstep pre-plucked, disemboweled and ready to go. That maneuver just bought you enough time to enjoy a glass of wine by the crackling fire. A nice WARM crackling fire with the dog curled up at your feet. Toasty!

 

 

Culinary Inclination Series III: Roasted Whole Duck and Pinot Noir.

 

Are you a home chef, an involuntarily semi-retired chef or a chef waiting to re-open your restaurant? Not to worry, this easy step by step preparation and a little Pinot Noir will see you through in full plumage!

 

Prepare your roasting rack and preheat the oven: Line the bottom of the roasting pan with aluminum foil. Do not put foil over the top of the roasting rack as it will fill with very hot duck fat. This is a temporary or “fluid” situation, as liquified duck fat is subject to the laws of gravity and will, in short order, be on the floor. Or you, whichever it encounters first.

 

Besides, you are going to want to “harvest” that duck fat so you can scramble up some eggs for breakfast. Duck fat was Julia Child’s secret ingredient for all things savory. Sauté with olive oil during the week but live a little on the weekends and use duck fat.

 

Set the upper oven rack so that the duck when placed breastbone up will be below the upper element by about 2 to 3 inches. Preheat oven to 350 and sample the Pinot Noir to ensure proper temperature. For this portion of the preparation, a suitable Pinot in Pink Rosé or Heirloom Cameo BFC (Barrel Fermented Chardonnay) may be substituted with no loss of etiquette.

 

Note: The first step in this process will be to crisp the skin. This step will produce some smoke. We usually have a few windows open in the kitchen to keep us vented and eat in the dining room. Or, if wildfires are still raging in your area, you may not notice the smoke. Either way, you cannot make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Nice shoes, by the way.

 

Preparing your duck and proofing the Pinot Noir: Remove the whole duck from its store (or natural) packaging as the case may be. Empty the body cavity and rinse thoroughly. If you plan to fill this cavity with stuffing, then a visual inspection is in order. Take a moment now to swirl your stem gently, but deliberately to observe how the wine catches the afternoon sunlight. Nice day today, not too hot...

 

Place the duck on a solid surface or cutting board, again breastbone up. Using a medium length, straight blade, score the skin on each side of the breast. Begin at the center of the breastbone and score diagonally upward toward the wing. Repeat with a parallel cut every 1 inch or so. Perform the same procedure on the other side. Be careful to not cut too deeply into the meat under the skin. Clip off the wing tips at the first joint.

 

The thighs are the fattiest portion of the duck and you will also score those. Turn the duck on its side and score vertically through the fatty portion of the thigh where it meets the back with 2 or 3 cuts. Again, do not cut so deeply that you cut into the meat. Repeat on the other side.

 

Finally, cut the skin and tendons at the end of the leg joint in a circular fashion. This will allow the skin and meat to rise up the leg bone toward the thigh and remain moist. This completes the knife skill portion of the preparation. Perform a standard finger count. The count should be 10, and if the count is in fact 10, then well done, it is time for a congratulatory sip!

 

Roasting with a convection oven: Place your scored duck on the roasting rack breastbone up. Spritz or brush with a light coating of sesame oil and season the scored breast with Hungarian paprika, Chinese 5 spice and finely cracked black pepper. Black sesame seeds are also an interesting textural addition.

 

Place the duck on the prepositioned upper-most rack in the preheated oven. Set the oven to BROIL and let this cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Put down the Pinot and keep an eye on things here as you will have duck fat and high heat in very close proximity.

 

The objective is to render the fat from the duck skin. This usually results in a deep golden-brown hue on the breast, but if you feel it is too much, take it out sooner. Remember there is a profound difference between a little char and burnt. Verify the remaining Pinot Noir bouquet is commensurate with the Duck. Secure a second bottle if necessary.

 

After you have crisped the skin to your satisfaction, remove the roasting rack from the oven and place it on a heat resistant surface. BE CAREFUL as the roasting pan will now have enough hot duck fat in it to give you a first hand impression of entering a medieval castle uninvited.

 

Set the oven to Convection Roast at 350 and move the rack to the center of the oven. Using appropriate tongs, turn the duck over so that the breastbone is now facing down and return the roasting rack to the oven. Toast your accomplishment with a sip of Pinot Noir, even if you must open that second bottle to do so.

 

Roast for about 45 minutes. The leg joint should move fairly freely when done. Remember that the breast meat is at its best medium to medium rare. Hmm, this second bottle is quite lovely. Ah, it is from the 2010 vintage, of course!

 

For the last 5 minutes of roasting, turn the duck once more so that the breastbone is facing upward. This will allow the fat to drain from the scored skin. Prepare your carvery area with the following tools: A large cutting board with a recessed fat drain, duck pliers (aka poultry shears), a very sharp boning knife and a hand towel. This will be your last chance for a sip of Pinot Noir for a little while, so make the most of it.

 

Presentation: Remove the duck from the oven and place it on the cutting board. Let stand, or sit, for about 5 (or maybe 10) minutes to allow the juices to cool. Keep an eye on the dog, retrieval skills are a natural instinct, and he has picked up the scent. Before the dismemberment begins, this is YOUR chance to shine. The kitchen is full of the most wonderful aromas of roast duck, sizzling duck fat and Pinot Noir. Your guests pass the carvery station and adorn you with accolades. With this high praise rolling in, now is NOT the time to run out of Pinot Noir.

 

Carving is the art of separating the meat from the supporting structure, known as the carcass. Legs and thighs are typically richer in texture. The breast meat, sliced thinly, glistens. Duck wing lollipops are the “Scooby-Doo snacks” that never seem to make it out of the kitchen. When everything is plated up, it is time to “Get the Duck Outta here!”

 

Duck is a very rich meat, so we enjoy a slightly bitter green vegetable such as garlic braised broccolini or Brussels sprouts in duck fat. Winter squash will pair with the sweetness of the meat. Of course, sautéed wild chanterelle or morel mushrooms are obligatory. The cheese course varies widely, however we recommend Fourme d’Ambert with whatever Pinot Noir is left after the meal, whether it IS open or IS YET TO BE open!

Please contact Dena by email at Cuvee@AmalieRobert.com or by phone at 503.88.CUVEE (28833) for pricing and availability of Amalie Robert Pinot Noirs, Heirloom Cameo Chardonnay and Pinot in Pink Rosé.

Happy Thanksgiving,

 

Dena & Ernie

Portfolio Update: Vinous Edition 2020

Hello and Welcome, 
  
This is an Amalie Robert Estate Portfolio Update: Vinous Edition 2020. A FLOG communication from Dena and Ernie @AmalieRobert. Oregon Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. 

  
Let’s just get right into this. All reviews are by Josh Raynolds of Vinous Media from May, August and September 2020. There are all manner of wine reviewers out there, and then there is Vinous Media. 
 
“Bob, I think I got here too late. You have your cherry orchard on top of my vineyard!"
 
We started with a Montmorency cherry orchard in 1999. We planted our first 10 acres at the turn of the century and have kept at it to get where we are today – 35 acres of producing vines and an Estate winery. We grow, ferment, blend and bottle only Estate Grown wine including Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Viognier. And pre-commercial amounts of Gewürztraminer.
 

 
At this point, it may be worth noting that the wines identified below were grown in our vineyard and our neighbor’s vineyard where the shared property line to our east separates the vines. The sub Willamette Valley AVA petition for our area (Mt. Pisgah Polk County, Oregon which includes our neighbor), is winding its way through the process. As this image of Ernie standing in front of our Bellpine soil reveals, we have some pretty good dirt to work with.
 

 
And it doesn’t seem to matter that much on the clones. Coury, Pommard or Wadenswil can all do well on our sedimentary Bellpine soils. Dena favors the Pommard clone, and Ernie is a Wadenswil man. The jury is still out on Dick Erath’s clone 95, but we will have some of that fermenting up this fall. Who knows, maybe yet another 95 for clone 95 is in the works.
 
 
 
Let’s move right along to the cool climate Syrah program. They say luck favors the prepared mind. At Microsoft it was said, it is better to be lucky than good. A little trip to the Northern Rhône produced a very fortuitous meeting with Marcel Guigal. Somewhere in all those tea leaves the Syrah program took form.
 
“Syrah has emerged as a serious, if obscure, wild card in Oregon, and while there are still just a few examples being produced, some of them are among the best the New World has to offer. Gargantua, a new-ish project from Josh Bergstrom, of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (and Chardonnay) fame, is producing a truly stunning Syrah, as are Amalie Robert, Cristom and Penner-Ash. Then there’s the Rogue Valley, which, as I noted above, is solidifying itself as an attention-worthy source for Syrah, especially at Cowhorn.”  - Oregon Outside the Pinot Noir Box. By Josh Raynolds | September 03, 2020
 
The basis of our cool climate Syrah is 4 clones of Syrah that Marcel Guigal had identified to Ernie and a slight mix-up at the grafting bench that introduced Viognier into the mix. Dionysus, the Greek god of all things vinous, must have lent some divine intervention. The net result: Côte Rôtie from Oregon. It is with a great debt of gratitude that we check in on the Guigal single vineyard wines of Côte Rôtie.
 

 
When it comes to Oregon Chardonnay, it’s not just for pirates anymore. The Heirloom Cameo is our BFC. That’s Barrel Fermented Chardonnay for everyone not hip to the cellar lingo. We use a 500 liter puncheon to ferment and mature the Heirloom Cameo for 14 months. A nifty little trick that we lifted off the Burgundians for imparting just the right amount of new oak, while keeping the wine’s focus on the palate texture and elegant but persistent finish.
 

 
Pinot Meunier: The “Champagne Deconstructed” option. While it is true that Dena has a soft spot for Champagne, we have yet to pull the trigger on a secondary fermentation. Oh sure, we have made the base wine from Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir and we label that as the Bellpine Pearl. As a platinum hued white wine, it is our pearl from the soil – without the gas.
 
“Pinot Meunier, a cousin of Pinot Noir, is a no-brainer when it comes to potential in the Willamette Valley, and the examples being made by Eyrie and Amalie Robert speak to the great possibilities that exist here. But given market realities, I’m not holding my breath that many growers will soon turn much of their attention to this variety at the expense of Pinot Noir.” - Oregon Outside the Pinot Noir Box. By Josh Raynolds | September 03, 2020
 
The Pinot Meunier stands alone. One of the most outgoing of the Pinot family of wines and pairs with oh-so-many culinary inclinations. One of the first to grow Pinot Meunier in the Willamette Valley was David Lett. His wine style of this variety always struck us as elegant and perfumed and we were drawn to this style of letting Meunier be Meunier. In other words, don’t muck it up!
 

  
As is de rigueur for these pages, we end with the numbers and a handy scorecard for future reference.
 

 
Club 95. This is the first year we have gained admittance to this exclusive collection of wines. We have three entries from two vintages.
 
2016 Pommard Clone Pinot Noir
2016 Wadenswil Pinot Noir
2014 The Reserve Pinot Noir
 
With a score of 94, we have been here before. Note the Top Barrel Syrah remains the highest rated Willamette Valley Syrah. Our first 94 point Top Barrel Syrah was from the 2012 vintage.
 
2015 Amalie’s Cuvée Pinot Noir
2015 Estate Selection Pinot Noir
2014 Top Barrel Syrah
 
Following closely along in third position is the field of 93’s. Here we see the variety of wines our sedimentary Bellpine soil is able to produce. Maybe that 5C rootstock is all it’s cracked up to be…
 
2015 Heirloom Cameo Chardonnay (BFC)
2015 Dijon Clones Pinot Noir
2015 Satisfaction Syrah
2014 Satisfaction Syrah
 
Here come the sweepers holding a quite respectable position 92.
 
2016 Pinot Meunier (Sold out)
2015 The Uncarved Block Pinot Noir

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie