Amalie Robert Estate Climate Update: April 2020 & Library Pinot Noirs

Hello and Welcome, 

 

This is the Amalie Robert Estate Climate Update: April 2020. A FLOG Communication from Dena and Ernie @AmalieRobert Estate. 

  

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.

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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.

http://www.amalierobert.com/vintage-vestibule.html

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

Amalie Robert Vintage Update: 2014 Pinot Noir In Flagrante!

Hello and Welcome,

We have reached the end of the beginning and are now facing the beginning of the end. Sure, things look really nice now with the gentle breeze fondling our Pinot Noir leaves. But we can assure you things look very different at harvest with 70 some tons of Pinot Noir bearing down on you with the ever-present threat of rain looming in the foreground (queue the eerie music.)

But we saw the first intrepid wineberry today, August 2, 2014!! And wouldn’t you know, it was in the last place we looked – and that is because once we found it, we quit looking. Same story with the tractor keys, once you find them you get to go farming!

The Julian Calendar date is 214, 2014. In 2013, day 213 was when we saw the first blazing wineberry. Hmmm…. Typically the average is somewhere around day 228. In 2012 we were right on track at day 229, but it was a leap year. And that character building vintage of 2011 held us out until day 237. Think about this, we are 23 days ahead of where we were in 2011. That was the year we were so far behind, we had to get up before we even had a chance to go to bed!

Back on task. The prized specimen belongs to a Pommard Clone vine of Pinot Noir grafted onto that “Big Daddy” rootstock 5C. The 5C rootstock is an Amalie Robert Estate favorite. We employ several rootstocks to match our soils, but we have found when dry farming, 5C is the dog’s bollocks:-

Of all the rootstocks used in the Willamette Valley, 5C has a reputation for being the latest ripening of all. For this reason most vineyards will not plant it, as they would prefer to harvest their grapes earlier before all the bad-nasty birds and rains come a-calling.

However, as most of you know, Ernie does not run with the traffic. In laying out the vineyard, a significant portion of the vines are grafted onto Big Daddy 5C. In fact, 5C provides the closest ripening curve match to own rooted (non-grafted) vines. The other rootstocks used around the valley have a ripening curve that comes in about 5 to 7 days ahead of own rooted and 5C grafted vines.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN AND WHY SHOULD I CARE?

Our very best wines always seem to be from blocks where the vines are grafted onto Big Daddy 5C. One thing to consider here is that aromas and flavors are really developing in the skins of the wineberry the last week to 10 days before harvest. With 5C we ripen a bit more slowly, and that allows us to hang a little longer into the abyss.

Since we are building sugars more slowly, we can hang ‘em out there a little longer without worrying about excessive sugars and potential alcohol levels that could force an early harvest on a lesser rootstock. Then we snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with a late harvest day when we can see the harvest window closing in our rear view mirror.

And don’t forget the stems – they love the extra hang time to ripen up. We love it too because whole cluster fermentation means we are putting those clusters in whole, stem and all. What ripe stems provide are fine grained tannins that lengthen the finish of Pinot Noir. Hmm, where did my glass go…?

In that wonderfully cool year 2010, we produced a 2 barrel selection of Pommard Clone and a 2 barrel selection of Wadenswil Clone Pinot Noirs. While these wines are very different, Pommard being from France and Wadenswil from Switzerland, they do have some similarities.

The first thing these two wines have in common is they were both Estate grown on Big Daddy 5C rootstock.

And we just found out the second thing they share is a 93 point rating from Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar.

Go Big Daddy!

2010 Amalie Robert Estate Pinot Noir Pommard Clone Willamette Valley

Bright red.  Vibrant mineral- and spice-laced red berry and floral pastille scents are given depth by notes of licorice and cola.  Lithe and sharply focused on the palate, offering gently sweet strawberry and cherry flavors that put on weight and gain spiciness with aeration.  Pure, focused and lively on the strikingly long finish, which is framed by silky tannins and brightened by a tangy blood orange note. 93 points

2010 Amalie Robert Estate Pinot Noir Wadenswil Clone Willamette Valley

Bright red.  High-pitched cherry and Asian spice aromas are deepened by notes of sassafras, woodsmoke and cola.  Stains the palate with sappy red and dark berry flavors and tangy acidity adding lift and cut.  An exotic floral nuance emerges with air and carries through a long, sweet and persistent finish.  While this energetic pinot is built to age, it has a lot of immediate appeal. 93 points

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie

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Amalie Robert Estate Climate Update: 2014 July

Hello and Welcome,

The Dog Days of summer appear to be upon us. Sunny warm days and cool crisp nights are the reason Pinot Noir ripens so exceptionally well in the Willamette Valley. It’s nice to see the Pinot Noir leaves being gently caressed by the afternoon breeze. And ya know the resident humans like it too. Yep, it’s pretty farmin’ nice!

A well groomed vineyard is a beautiful thing. We spend much of the month of July tending to the vines’ every need with an eye toward harvest. Our first battle is getting their shoots tucked into the trellis and then clipped into place. They put up a pretty good fight, but at the end of the day we lock them in. This activity alone takes about 2 minutes of hand labor per vine over the course of 3 visits – repeat 45,000 times.

Then Ernie wheels out the hedger for a whole lotta “tough love.” He runs though the vineyard with the sole purpose of removing the growing tips from the shoots. The goal here is to get the vine to redirect its energy into ripening its seeds. At first they don’t get it and just produce more shoots and leaves. Fine.

A second pass starts to bend the curve, but they just keep on pushing. Now the third pass, that one can achieve the result we are looking for. And so it goes, by the end of July the vines have mostly stopped producing new foliage and have begun to direct more energy into ripening their wineberries. And we like it like that!

July is also the time of the growing season when we can impact the “tannin structure,” “mid-palate texture” or “phenolic profile” of our wines. This is all just crazy wine talk for how the wine feels in your mouth. But you can use real words like smooth, elegant, pure, very nice, and yum! The “yum factor” is a real thing and sometimes that’s all you need to say. People may give you the “confused dog look” but we know what you mean: “Amalie’s Cuvée – Yum!”

We get the yum factor in our Pinot Noirs by leaving most of the leaves around the little wineberries attached to the plant. Sure we take some of the bigger leaves off to allow for air circulation and some sun exposure, but not very many. These well positioned leaves also protect our developing wineberries from harsh heat spikes that can come and go depending on Mama’s mood. And if Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy…

The alternative is to strip the leaves out of the fruit zone to maximize the sun exposure and “phenolic development” in the wineberries’ skin The resulting wine can be more harsh, bitter and less pleasant to be around. This is kind of like you falling asleep at the beach and not noticing that the umbrella you were napping under was horked by some passing kid. And the dog got your bottoms. Doggone it…

This is part of the “Enhanced Extraction Technique” school of viticulture. And how do you handle those harsh flavors in the winery? Get out the toasty oak barrels, aka burn cream. The oak’s sweetness will temper the wine’s harshness and if done well, this approach can make a very exciting Syrah. May the yum factor be with you.

Numbers:

You can never tell for sure ‘til it’s over, but 2014 is shaping up to be building on the 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2013 warm July vintages. We’ll do the numbers, and then you can do the math.

We logged 624 degree days for the month of July, 2014, with a high of 98.1 and a low of 44.8 degrees Fahrenheit with 0.80 inches of rain. The total degree days for the 2014 growing season now stand at 1,271 with total rainfall at 6.68 inches (that was close!)

Have a look at this Degree Day comparison (which way does the hockey stick go?):

Vintage	April-June	July	YTD - July	Total
2014	647	624	1,271	TBFD*
2013	669	543	1,212	2,143
2012	480	449	929	2,068
2011	308	381	689	1,794
2010	464	334	798	1,722
2009	714	532	1,246	2,095
2008	462	531	993	1,929
2007	497	557	1,054	1,890
2006	656	590	1,246	2,176

* To Be Farming Determined

Lots and lots of ways to look at this. 2014 has one of the warmer Springs on record at Amalie Robert Estate at 1,271 degree days, and holds the top spot for July at 624 degree days. However, at this point in the growing season, we look a lot like 2006, 2009 and a bit like 2013. Also interesting to note 2007 was ahead of 2008 in July, but that didn’t hold through harvest.

Further detailed analytical and subjective analysis is an exercise left for the reader. If you are missing exemplars of a particular vintage, please contact Dena to secure your specimens. If you are not sure which wine you need, check out the Amalie Robert Estate Scorecard.

And what about 2010? That vintage was so farming cold that the birds got here ahead of schedule - and they stayed. Yep, they feasted on wineberries while we waited for them to ripen. Every day a few more vines were denuded. We estimate our loss to be about 300 cases of wine that just flew right out of the vineyard. Others were hit harder and everyone lost some. But we saved a bunch of money on bottles and corks!

The growing season was a rollercoaster ride with a very nice October. Here is what we said in our 2010 “Harvest After Action Report.”

“The challenge we faced was bringing in 65 tons in short order. While the harvest window looked really nice, it was not going to last forever. There is a funny story about someone who made a substantial sum in the stock market. He was asked how he did it; what was his "secret?" He replied "I sold too soon!"

And so it was as harvest began. People wanted to pick, but they thought it was too soon. The sugars were rising (Brix) and the acids were falling. The planets were beginning to align. The cold 2010 vintage was being redeemed! The weather was stunning and Ernie understood the temptation to wait. But Ernie has lived through the "Dot.Com" bust, and the thought of waiting was never seriously considered. He learned the hard way that those "gains" are not yours until you bring them home.”

You can read the full 2010 “Harvest After Action Report” on our FLOG (Farming bLOG) right here:

http://amalierobert.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=10

So, did we make the right call starting harvest “too soon?” Well, we think it worked out just fine. As most of you know, we like to hold our wines until we think they are drinking well, and providing a substantial “yum factor.” The latest reviews from our most respected Pinot Noir reviewer, Josh Raynolds for Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, were published at the beginning of July. (All reviews: ©2014 WineAccess. All Rights Reserved.) Whaddya think?

2010 Pinot Noir The Reserve Willamette Valley Light, bright red.  Highly perfumed aromas of fresh red berries, potpourri, cinnamon and sandalwood are complemented by deeper-pitched notes of cola and black cardamom.  Shows excellent clarity and lift on the palate, offering spicy raspberry and bitter rhubarb flavors that gain sweetness with air.  Distinctly pure and focused pinot with silky tannins coming on late and adding grip to the long finish. 93

2010 Pinot Noir Amalie's Cuvee Willamette Valley Bright ruby-red.  A complex, expressive bouquet evokes fresh red berries, Asian spices and potpourri, with a hint of smoky minerals emerging with aeration.  Offers juicy, incisive black raspberry and bitter cherry flavors that stretch out and deepen with air while picking up a suave rose pastille nuance.  Shows excellent clarity and drive on the persistent finish, which is firmed by dusty, harmonious tannins and a jolt of blood orange. 93

2010 Pinot Noir Pommard Clone Willamette Valley Bright red.  Vibrant mineral- and spice-laced red berry and floral pastille scents are given depth by notes of licorice and cola.  Lithe and sharply focused on the palate, offering gently sweet strawberry and cherry flavors that put on weight and gain spiciness with aeration.  Pure, focused and lively on the strikingly long finish, which is framed by silky tannins and brightened by a tangy blood orange note. 93

2010 Pinot Noir Estate Selection Willamette Valley Bright red.  Expressive spicy, floral bouquet evokes fresh rose, red berries and incense, with a subtle orange zest note adding lift.  Silky, tangy and precise, offering nervy redcurrant and raspberry flavors that slowly flesh out with air.  Shows outstanding clarity and lift on the long, spicy finish, which betrays just a hint of fine-grained tannins. 92

2010 Pinot Noir Dijon Clones Willamette Valley Bright red.  Heady, exotic aromas of fresh red berries, Asian spices and potpourri, with subtle smoke and mineral nuances adding complexity.  Silky, expansive and appealingly sweet, offering intense raspberry and rose pastille flavors and a strong spicecake quality that builds on the back half.  Pure, focused and strikingly persistent on the finish, which is firmed by fine-grained, harmonious tannins. 92

2010 Ipinot Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Light, bright red.  High-pitched redcurrant, strawberry and orange zest aromas, along with suggestions of dusty minerals and white pepper.  Shows very good clarity and lift to its light-bodied bitter cherry and red berry flavors.  Closes with lingering spiciness, a touch of rose pastille and silky, fine-grained tannins that stay hidden in the background. 91

2012 Pinot Meunier Willamette Valley Vivid red.  Musky red berries and cherry on the fragrant nose, with subtle herbal and floral qualities adding complexity.  Chewy bitter cherry and licorice flavors become sweeter with air while picking up a peppery nuance.  Closes with very good energy, grip and length, leaving a note of white pepper behind.  Shows good delineation for the vintage, with no excess fat. 90

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie

Amalie Robert Estate Scorecard

Amalie Robert Estate: 2006 Spring Cellar Report

Hello and Welcome,

Spring has finally arrived and we are grateful. Ernie thinks the winter lasted a bit too long and cabin fever began to set in. But, the "off season" is a good time to reflect and make plans for the following year. We have taken advantage of this time and have some updates to share.

The most recent news is that Ernie has completed planting the "North Orchard." You may recall this block is about 8 acres and is the highest elevation on the property. This brings us up to about 30 acres, nearly 45,000 vines. We planted all of this acreage (about 12,000 vines) to Pinot Noir (Pommard, Dijon clone 114 and 667) on 3 different rootstocks. The next step is the trellis with about 160 posts and 65 miles of wire. If all goes well and Mother Nature smiles upon us, the North Orchard will begin to bear fruit in 2008. We will keep you "posted".

Dena has also been busy with label designers trying to refine our look. The 2004 labels were updated just slightly with better color utilization and the use of a proper burgundy bottle. The 2005 front labels will show off Dena's handiwork and we will retain the burgundy shape bottle. The back label is Ernie's design and it reflects the structure and discipline you have come to expect from him. We have rekindled the cork debate and may be going "old school" back to real corks for our 2005 Pinot Noirs.

We were very honored earlier this year to be invited to join the ¡Salud! Pinot Noir barrel auction this fall. This event is in its 15th year and is held each November. The purpose is to raise funds to provide healthcare to the people who work our fields and move from crop to crop as the seasons change. Both Dena and Ernie are big supporters of this mission and Ernie is on the Steering Committee. His primary responsibility is the Saturday Big Board Auction. Click here to learn more. www.saludauction.org

The next big thing is our winery project. Last fall we began planning for our estate winery. We chose an experienced architect whose projects include Domaine Drouhin, Domaine Serene, and Stoller Vineyards. We were fortunate that a very experienced builder was available to construct our winery. Their prior projects include Bethel Heights and Penner-ash.  We broke ground on February 9 and are targeted to complete the construction by mid-August. Our goal is to crush 20 tons of our estate grown fruit this fall. The best part is that we will have Syrah and Viognier for the first time!

Let's talk about the wines. Our site and Mother Nature really hit it off in 2005. The wines in barrel are just flat-out gorgeous. We will again have a Dijon clones bottling in 2005 and perhaps a bit larger production of Amalie's Cuvée. We will also be crafting a ¡Salud! wine from a very small lot that we personally hand harvested last fall. The clones are our favorites, Dijon 114 and 115. We have also tasted through all of our customers’ cellars and everyone is extremely pleased with the 2005s.  We sell fruit to Beaux Frères, Cristom Vineyards, Elk Cove Vineyards and Dick Erath.

As you know, our 2004s are just being released. We knew the barrel lots were great, but waiting for them to come out of bottle shock is a trying experience. Maybe the move to real corks will help this process. These wines are unfined & unfiltered and are beginning to develop some sediment. Decanting is not required; however setting the bottle upright for about 30 minutes is a good idea.

We submitted these wines to a reviewer who has a palate we trust - Stephen Tanzer at the International Wine Cellar. We were very pleased with the scoring, but even more excited about his descriptions. Here is what he had to say about our 2004 Pinot Noirs:

Amalie's Cuvee (91 cases produced) - Dark red. Raspberry and strawberry preserves on the nose, with hints of cola and dark chocolate. Sweet, plump cherry and blackberry on the palate, with good breadth and depth but not the purity or vivacity of the Dijon Clones bottling. A lush, weighty wine that picks up some exotic spice notes on the back end, finishing on a sweet, ripe note. (This was the first vintage under the label of this estate, which still sells half of its harvest to top local producers like Beaux Frères and Cristom.) 89 points

Dijon Clones (254 cases produced) - Light red. Flat-out gorgeous nose of red berries, yellow rose and five-spice powder, with a chalky mineral element adding energy and lift. Juicy, vibrant and pure, the nicely concentrated flavors running the red fruit gamut (especially wild strawberry), with an earthy note of rhubarb. Wonderfully clean and brisk, but with no shortage of concentration or flavor impact through the finish. Develops a wild, sweet note of underbrush with air. This is strikingly pure, unadorned and pretty pinot. 91 points

                                    - Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, May/Jun 06

If you have made it this far, you know that you won't see or hear from Ernie again until the Harvest Review. His primary job from here until harvest is directing the field work and putting in the tractor time that will steward our fruit through the summer and into the winery where our first crush awaits. During this time, Dena will be keeping everything else together and staying in touch with you. 

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie