Hello and Welcome,
It has just been a lovely
Willamette Valley start to the growing season. Wind, rain, sun and clouds
provide an ever-changing landscape of environmental conditions that afford us
the opportunity to conquer the agrarian challenges of getting the vineyard
ready to bear fruit. And of course, it would not be springtime in wine country
without a visit to the shop for some equipment maintenance. Then just wait
until you see the numbers! They are just one sig-fig this year, but they are
stunning.
First off, we have a little
housekeeping to attend to. We have begun using Evite to help us manage in the
times of COVID-19. https://www.evite.com/
Evite allows us to send invitations to help manage visits to the winery, so
that we can comply with social distancing requirements, while not being
socially distant. We have yet to figure out how to schedule specific times, so
if you RSVP please indicate your preferred time. We also send an Evite to
announce new releases. Note: We are not shipping any wine without your
approval.
When you receive an Evite
invitation, please notice there are often multiple pages to the invitation. The
cover card is just the first page of the invitation (and notice the Pinot Noir
stamp on the envelope). The second and third pages will contain details about
releases or visits to the winery. Label images or other artwork are sometimes
included. From time to time Ernie may insert a coded message, such as the
timeless “Be Sure to Drink Your Ovaltine”. Also, we are introducing The Big
Blue Button.
And while we are on the topic of
cards and wine, we would like to point out that Mother’s Day is Sunday May
10th. Most of the country is still under lockdown and that means someone has to
figure out how to make brunch for Mom. We suggest cinnamon spiced waffles with
fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream. Super easy and a very colorful
presentation with purple lilacs for the table or a dozen pink roses - like
Pinot in Pink Rosé, the perfect brunch wine.
There is still time to up your
waffle making game before Sunday, and we are confident in your corkscrew
abilities. You’ve got this! But if you need some Rosés, we are here to help.
Pinot in Pink Rosé 6 packs are still $100, shipping included. Just press the
Big Blue Button.
Digging in the dirt. That is
springtime in wine country. The vineyard floor has been recycled to release the
nutrients from last fall’s post harvest cover crops. Then Ernie prepped the
soil and drilled the new spring cover crop. And the rain played right into
Ernie’s plan to germinate the new seeds. Rain in April doesn’t actually require
a lot of planning, just being ready to go when the sun peeks out is usually
good enough. And so now we have about 18 acres of vineyard floor that is
growing fertilizer for the vines. Once their above ground usefulness is at an
end, these cover crops will be tilled under and the natural nutrient recycling
lives on.
We recorded bud break on April
13th. The vines are starting to wake up and they have their pre-programmed
plan. They know exactly what they are going to do and when they are going to do
it. We have our plan as well. We know what we are going to do, we just don’t
know when we are going to do it. We are in the driver’s seat, but we are certainly
not in control.
Next on the vines’ agenda is
flowering. We usually have to wait until Dena’s birthday in June, but sometimes
we have to wait longer, and sometimes we don’t. That’s farming where we
remember fondly, the words of Yogi Berra who once said, “You can observe a lot
by just watching”. We will know it when we see it, and we will let you know
when we see it.
`
Why yes, we have a little
equipment maintenance to do. Of Ernie’s 3 Italian tractors, two of them have
sequestration stations, aka cabs. And both of these tractors are equipped with
air conditioning. (You would think the glass would offer UV protection like
your vehicle’s windshield does, but hey this is agriculture.)
And it just so happens that both
of the cab tractors need their air conditioning compressors replaced this year.
These things usually run in three’s, but the third machine is an open station
crawler, so the air conditioning is “au naturel”.
The alternative to not restoring
the air conditioning function is to operate the tractor as a full-size
convection oven. The heat is from the tractor engine and drive train, and the
sunlight is unfiltered and magnified through the glass. The fan, while not
providing any cooling, does distribute the heat evenly throughout the cooking
space. Replace SPF 15 sunscreen with olive oil, salt, pepper and a dash of
paprika and you end up with braised winegrower by mid-August.
And wouldn’t you know it. One
tractor has a hydraulic pump attached to the crankshaft pulley. There is no way
to just slip on a new belt. That means to change the belt that runs the air
conditioning compressor, the entire front end of this machine has to be
disassembled. And then reassembled. Correctly. While this is unfortunate, it is
not uncommon in farm equipment.
The first thing to cover for the
Vintage 2020 numbers is that 2020 is a leap year. If you were born on February
29th or have a wedding anniversary, this is your Special Year! Enjoy it now, as
2024 is a long ways off, and “the future ain’t what it used to be”. On February
29th we recorded a high temperature of 45.3 degrees and a low temperature of
29.7 degrees. We hope you made the most of it.
For the first month of the
growing season, April 2020, we logged 133.5 Degree Days. The high temperature for
the 30 day period was 79.3 degrees and the low temperature was 30.7 degrees.
The first half of the month was cooler registering 41.6 Degree Days and
recorded the low temperature. The second half of the month registered 91.9
Degree Days and recorded the high temperature.
And it seems Ernie’s prior
vintage rain dances have a half-life. April rain slogged in at 1.33 inches.
Note: The rainfall will continue to be expressed in 2 sig-figs. There is no
reason for it, it just seems like the right thing to do. Kinda like some lockdown
regimes.
Cleaning up the cellar. The
COVID-19 SIP regulations have given us an opportunity to raid our cellar and we
imagine you may have too. We have tucked into a little Spanish wine from the
1980’s which is sublime, and Ernie’s favorite Northern Rhône Côte Rôties from
the 1990’s and somehow we found a bottle of Bordeaux from 1982. We tucked that
one back away as it seems it has another 100 or more years to go.
And then we found this. From the
very corner, bottom shelf of our library racks we uncovered a cache of our very
early vintages. Only a few bottles of some blends and just a handful of cases
in total of 2006-2007-2008-2009 vintages. There is an odd magnum or two to be
had as well. Of course, we immediately performed the necessary Quality Control
measures and are able to report that these wines are just singing!
The first vintage in our estate
winery was 2006. That was the year, trial by fire. But it worked out pretty
well. We made our first vintage of The Reserve in 2006 – just about 24 cases
worth. So, we sent our first vintage of The Reserve, Amalie’s Cuvée and Estate
Pinot Noirs off for review. And we sent them to the toughest critic of them all
– Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar. The best review and highest score
awarded from the 2006 vintage was a 93. And we were very, very pleased to see
that our inaugural vintage of The Reserve earned that score. Our individual
wines, Amalie’s Cuvée and Estate both came in at 92 points. As far as
inspiration goes, 2006 was a very significant year for Dena and Ernie at Amalie
Robert Estate. And then there was Ernie’s favorite vintage, 2007 where The
Reserve once again earned the top score from the vintage from not only Stephen
Tanzer, but also Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. Just sayin’.
Please have a look at the
following availability. We are offering these wines first come, first serve. If
you see something you like, just press the Big Blue Button and an E-mail window
to Dena will open where you can indicate your selections. Please specify 750 ml
or 1.5 liter format. Dena will confirm back with pricing and availability.
Happy Hunting!
And here is a Vintage Scorecard
to help you in your quest. You can also check out the Vintage
Vestibule to review past vintages.
We have all SIP’d and pulled
together to flatten the curve. Well done one and all! However, there could be
another curve to pay attention to later this year. And that will be in the form
of increased maternity ward activity just about 9 months after your local SIP
order was issued. Time to find the waffle maker and get busy in the kitchen.
Somebody put the kettle on.
Kindest Regards,
Dena & Ernie
