Climate Update: August 2020

Hello and Welcome, 

 

This is an Amalie Robert Estate Climate Update: August 2020. A  FLOG communication from Dena and Ernie @AmalieRobert. Amalie Robert Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. 

  

The Great Cluster Pluck, vintage 2020 is coming into view. Good things might come to those who wait, but not for those who wait too late. In other words, are we there yet?

  

  

The month of August was fairly temperate. Nothing really out of the ordinary from the last 30 year moving average – and that was quite nice. No rain, but that is just fine for our silty clay loam soils, known as Bellpine Series. These are marine sediment-based soils and they are quite miserly with their available soil moisture. In other words, they don’t give it up easily.

 

Ernie knew this when we designed the vineyard, and instead of following conventional wisdom of shallow rooted 101-14 and 3309 rootstocks (ho-hum), he went “all in” with a significant portion of the vineyard grafted onto 5C rootstock. Those roots dive deep, quite similar to own rooted vines, to extract all available soil moisture. This allows our wine berries to hang through the dry spells in August and September without shriveling and desiccation. Instead, the skins develop lovely red fruited aromas and flavors, while keeping our sugar concentrations in check, resulting in lower alcohol wines.

 

It’s a bug’s life. And get this, in our vineyard soil moisture budget we can afford to have grass in our rows. That grass provides the ecosystem necessary to foster good predatory bugs to keep our vines safe from the bad bugs that would do them harm, draining their vascular tissue. Bellpine soil and 5C rootstock. You are going to be hearing more and more about this combination, vis-à-vis Wadenswil.

 

 

The state of the vineyard is good! The clusters are just hanging there, ready to be plucked. Right now we are snipping and thinning off the wine berries that we do not want in the winery. These include the late to ripen wings, excessively green clusters and anything else that seems less than ideal. Then, in addition to the bioacoustics aerial Bird Gard attack, we deploy nets to the vine rows that are close to the forested areas of the vineyard. While originally developed for the fisheries of the world, nets are also very effective on birds. And if a stray coelacanth makes its way into the vineyard, well we are covered for that too.

 

The new normal - Hedging for effect. It is not necessarily the size of your canopy that counts, it is the magic growing in it. This is a pretty simple principle. The more leaves per lineal foot of canopy increases the sugar concentration in the wine berries, resulting in higher alcohol wines, all things being equal – which they never are. Right. So what to do?

 

There are two places where we can and do remove leaves. The first is the top of the canopy and the second is the fruit zone. Our physical layout for the vines is 7.5’ wide for the tractor driver (he uses it all for sure, for sure) and 4’ spacing from each vine. So agronomically speaking a 7.5’ spacing means you optimize sunlight harvesting with a 7.5’ tall canopy. The logic is irrefutable.

 

But if you are trying to shift the ripening curve to lower alcohol and more time on the vine to develop aroma and flavor, maybe that top foot of leaves is not contributing to your goal. Our Muse the Viognier taught Ernie this lesson a few vintages back. And this year he set the hedger low and applied this new learning to the Pinot Noir.

 

 

The second place to remove leaves is the fruit zone. This does not work for our Pinot Noir program as it creates excessive sun exposure on our wine berries resulting in high levels of bitter skin tannin. As we ferment with whole clusters, we look to the wine berries to offer more supple skin tannins, and the stems to provide the astringency that softens with bottle maturation. By leaving leaves, we intertwine and balance those two sources of tannins.

 

 

The answer was there the whole time. But the Syrah and Chardonnay both benefit from increased exposure in the fruit zone. In fact, the combination of a shorter canopy and more leaf removal from the fruit zone keeps our Cool Climate Syrah alcohols in check, as seen in the latest 2016 Satisfaction Syrah boasting a very respectable 12.7%. Yeah, this hedging thing is magic!

 

Here they are – The Numbers. The month of August contributed 537.7 Degree Days to vintage 2020, bringing the growing season total to 1,775.2. The high temperature for the month was just under the century mark at 99.5 degrees recorded on August 15^th at 4:24 pm. The low temperature for the month was 45.9 degrees recorded on August 7^th at 4:00 am. There was no measurable precipitation.

 

 

Stay tuned, things are about to get very interesting.

Kindest Regards,

 

Dena & Ernie

2020 Vintage Update: Earth, Wind, Fire & Smoke

Hello and Welcome, 

This is a 2020 Vintage Update: Earth, Wind, Fire & Smoke. A  FLOG communication from Dena and Ernie @AmalieRobert. Amalie Robert Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

 

 

September is the month where Mother Nature puts the finishing touches on the vintage. She dots the T’s and crosses her I’s or vice versa, depending on her prerogative. And she has all manner of tools at her disposal. Our job is to time the Great Cluster Pluck accordingly.

A westerly or “on-shore flow” will bring westerly cool and humid air down from the Gulf of Alaska – good for hang time and low alcohol wines. It is also good for the humans with cool nights for some much-needed rest before the Great Cluster Pluck kicks into high gear.

 

An “easterly flow” brings hot, dry, desiccating winds from the interior of the western states - and a compressed harvest window – gitter done! This pattern also has the tendency to bring with it dreaded wildfire smoke. And speaking of which, there is the biggest variable of all. The elephant in the room. The Jet Stream.

 

The Jet Stream is the common name for the trade winds. Back in the day, tall ships would sail from the far east to the new world. Actually, they tried to go from Europe to the far east, but instead they “discovered” the new world. Our oldest city is St. Augustine, Florida, founded way back in 1565. From the far east, they would make landfall in Los Angeles, or San Francisco or ports farther north. It mostly had to do with where the trade winds were blowing that week. A lot rested with the skill and ability of the captain in the ways of celestial navigation with his new-fangled sextant – and ability to find the North Star.

 

 

In the Pacific Northwest world of winemaking, we too are keen on navigating the Jet Stream. The Jet Stream has the most significant impact on weather leading up to harvest. And that weather will mostly determine the type of wines we produce from elegant and ethereal to blockbuster and epic. We now rejoin the wildfires and smoke discussion, already in progress…

 

As we all have borne witness, California is wildfire central and has been for some years now. Ernie grew up in Montana, and there were wildfires there too, mostly caused by lightning. And if we have a westerly flow, that smoke might just make it back to the Willamette Valley. You can follow along in near real time with this fire tracker covering the significant fires impacting the west coast, and Oregon Pinot Noir in particular: Wildfire Tracker

 

 

Kickin’ acid and takin’ names. This image best depicts the impact of the Jet Stream on vintage 2020. Here we see the Jet Stream bend the curve way north. This allows all of California’s Central Valley heat to invade the Willamette Valley. And as a double whammy, the smoke particulate hangs in the atmosphere acting as an insulator. In other words, we do not cool off at night and the wine berries continue to develop sugar when they should be holding onto their acidity.

 

 

Where there is smoke, there is smoke taint. But so far, that has not been the case for us because the Jet Stream has been below Oregon. This phenomenon takes all of the California smoke and points it toward the Rocky Mountains as we can see here. Let’s hope that trend continues, or someone has a good recipe for Pinot Noir BBQ sauce.

 

 

So, here is where we stand. California has over 750,000 acres burned with some of the largest wildfires on record still burning. The Jet Stream is working its way north allowing the heat into the Willamette Valley. The wildfire smoke to date, has been directed east and south of us. But all of this could change – quite quickly. And we haven’t even brought up the possibility of RAIN!

 

As we turn into the unknown that is September, we leave you with our inspiration from Earth, Wind and Fire.

 

“And we say

Ba de ya, say do you remember?

Ba de ya, dancing in September

Ba de ya, never was a cloudy day”

 

You can watch the Official Video right here – Highly recommended!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs069dndIYk

Kindest Regards,

 

Dena & Ernie

Amalie Robert Estate Update: Bird Warfare

Hello and Welcome, 

 

This is an Amalie Robert Estate Update: Bird Warfare. A FLOG communication from Dena and Ernie @AmalieRobert. Amalie Robert Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. 

The wine berries are turning from green to pink to purple and soon they will be just as sweet as maple surple! But not yet. 

We are coming down to the wire. Only a few more weeks until we begin the Great Cluster Pluck: Harvest 2020. That fact is not lost upon our bewinged friends robins and starlings, as it is their job to know these things, you know. Their other job is to not get eaten by an apex predator, such as a Red-tailed hawk. The only other thing in their job description to reproduce. Their recreational interests include perching above freshly washed cars for their morning constitutional, where the windshield is their favorite target. That about covers it for these little blighters.

 

Our job is to grow wine berries, execute a successful harvest and then ferment the sugar out of them. Over the last 20 years or so we have become somewhat adept at this process. We have adapted, and in some cases prevailed over our airborne intruders. Here is how we did it.

 

 

The old school solution is to cover the entire plant with netting. This can be an effective bird deterrent for crops such as blueberries where you can cover the entire shrubbery. The vineyard presents a unique challenge to netting where the vines form a row that is about 7 feet tall and 400 feet long. Our adaptation is to just cover the fruit zone on both sides with netting that falls all the way down to the ground, thus preventing filching from below.

 

 

Our next evolution was to put out reflective streamers. This is really fun and dresses up the vineyard. Mylar reflective tape or ribbon in silver or metallic colors comes in 150 to 400 foot rolls. The process is to cut the roll into 3 or 4 foot sections and then attach them to the trellis. When the breeze picks up, the reflective tape catches the sun, assuming it is sunny. This is what alerts the birds to danger and gives the vineyard that Christmas tinsel like look. It has virtually no effect on the birds, but it is really neat to look at. You can also hang your old CD’s on the vines and achieve the same results, but with lower costs.

 

 

Here is the latest natural remedy known as a “firenado”. This is a California invention where a wildfire and tornado come together, thus clearing the airspace of unwanted birds. As you can see from the current fires, there are several opportunities to have a firenado. But they are fairly hard to implement (let alone control) and therefore not recommended. You can learn more here.

 

After a period of trial and error, resulting in a lot of fat and happy birds, we returned to our roots – technology. To gain and maintain air superiority, we deploy Bird Gard bioacoustics. All you need is a control box which accepts e-prom chips, a set of speakers, an e-prom chip specific to the birds you want to target and a power supply. The control box is highly programmable and has a photo eye to detect sunrise.

 

 

 

Set it and forget it, the Bird Gard unit does the rest. Every morning when the control box detects first light, it begins to broadcast the sounds of the target species (robins and starlings) under duress (aka being attacked) and the sounds of the control species (Cooper’s hawks, Sharp-shinned hawks and Red-tailed hawks – love you guys) performing the control (aka attack). All perfectly normal and just a simulation of the natural order. As the old saying goes, you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.

 

 

 

As you might imagine, protecting 35 acres of wine berries is going to take more than just one control box and a couple of speakers. Here is where the synergies come into play. By setting up multiple Bird Gard units around the property, there is always one of them going off. And by using different e-prom chips you can increase the control species calls. The idea is to catch the target species in the air, and completely unaware. They then modify their behavior RFN to change course to a safe area away from the prized wine berries.

 

 

Sometimes not. The Bird Gard is also effective in attracting the control species. There have been times when we have found carcasses of the target species in the vineyard. And we frequently see raptors in the air circling the vineyard. If Ernie does a good job keeping the grass cut down, this Bird Gard set-up is also helpful in controlling the local rodent population. It’s a WIN-WIN-WIN! And in farming, that’s about as good as you are going to get it.

 

As a BONUS for those of you who read all the way to the bottom, here is a VineStories video of an Amalie Robert Estate harvest.

 

Alternatively, you can watch a very classic spaghetti harvest.

Kindest Regards,

 

Dena & Ernie

Amalie Robert Estate Update: International Pinot Noir Day!

Hello and Welcome, 

This is an Amalie Robert Estate Update: Today is International Pinot Noir Day! A FLOG communication from @AmalieRobert Dena and Ernie. Amalie Robert Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. 

 

Today is THE day we have been waiting for all year! It is International Pinot Noir day! If you want to know the calendar for the other wine varieties, you can follow this link to the calendar of National Wine days.

https://wineloversvillage.com/national-wine-days/
 

Note: There is no mention of Pinot Meunier day. That’s fine, as we recognize Pinot Meunier Day at Amalie Robert Estate every fall, just before Thanksgiving when we release the latest and best vintage ever.

 

And speaking of new releases, Amalie’s Cuvée is making a debut this weekend! The 2016 vintage along with a few sister vintages are up on the tasting menu this Saturday and Sunday, August 22 and 23. Watch for your Evite and reserve your day and time.

 

Pinot Noir has three great growing regions on the planet. Closest to home is Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Among other clones, we grow Wadenswil, a Swiss clone of Pinot Noir. The next closest region is Burgundy, France, where they grow the Pommard clone. If you can spare the time, both the North and South islands of New Zealand farm it. However, they do it differently with the Gumshoe clone and 10x5.

 

Unfortunately, the International Pinot Noir Celebration was postponed this year due to COVID-19. That is the opportunity to co-locate in McMinnville, Oregon and taste Pinot Noir grown from all over the world. And maybe someday, things being what they are, we may have an intergalactic Pinot Noir Celebration.

 

Pop ‘em if you got ‘em! You can have a personal celebration without having to leave your own backyard. Online shopping and home delivery of your favorite ARB’s (Adult Recreational Beverages) are no more than a few clicks away.

 

 

If we can be of service, just click on the Big Blue Button. iPinot 6 packs including ground delivery are still running $120. The iPinot price will be manually adjusted after we receive your order. And any orders over $300 come complete with ground shipping in the continental United States included OR we will split the cost of 3 day air shipping with you. Please make a note on your order if you prefer air shipping and Dena will contact you to confirm before shipping.

 

Be prepared. The next big thing is August 28^th - National Red Wine Day.
 
 
Kindest Regards,
 
Dena & Ernie

Amalie Robert Estate Vintage Update: Pinot Noir In Flagrante 2020 and 2015 Vintage Retrospective Weekend!

Hello and Welcome, 

This is an Amalie Robert Estate Vintage Update: Pinot Noir In Flagrante 2020 and 2015 Vintage Retrospective Weekend! We do declare, on August 2 at 2:00 pm, block 2 Pinot Noir clone 777 grafted onto 44-53 rootstock, Julian calendar day 215! (Note: this is a leap year.) A FLOG communication @AmalieRobert from Dena and Ernie. Amalie Robert Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. 

It is with great joy and some trepidation, that we present to you our first blushing wine berries. While this has been a very moderate growing season to date, those little rascals have gone and gotten ahead of themselves. We typically see this sort of behavior toward the middle of August, not at the start of the month. And that means buckle up Dorothy, we are on our way to harvest - vintage 2020. 

The timing is actually very fortuitous. The delivery of Ernie’s new crystal ball that is. This free shipping and not having to drive 45 minutes to adhere to a COVID-19 protocol in a retail environment (with unfamiliar humans) is a pretty strong incentive for on-line shopping. We expect this trend to accelerate in the on-line world of wine buying, hence the reappearance of The Big Blue Button.

Press the Big Blue Button to go to Amalie Robert Direct.

And what say this new crystal ball? It say, we will have moderate temperatures for the remainder of the growing season. Mostly in the 80’s, nothing much over 90, or maybe 92. Evenings will be cooling more and more as we trail off into September. The jet stream is predicted to stay to our south, allowing the cooling forces from the Gulf of Alaska to keep a nice acid balance in our wine berries. None of that California Central Valley heat and wildfire smoke to contend with. Harvest might not actually start until October. Wouldn’t that be something? I remember when…

We are not the only ones who have noticed. Last month it was the cedar waxwings and this week we had the Chief Inspector from the Venison troop checking us out. Everybody, it seems, is making plans to do some cluster plucking.

Caught buck naked in the vines.

Fortunately, the Murder Hornets (Vespa mandarinia) are confined to Washington State – for now. This is yet another gift from the far east. In the slide below, you can see the very large exemplar pinned to the center. Forewarned is forearmed, check out his link:

https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/what-you-need-to-know-about-murder-hornets

Just to the right of Vespa mandarinia, you will see one of our Oregon species of yellow jacket, Vespula pennsylvanica. And to the right of that, our mitigation strategy. We also have the Bald-faced hornet in Oregon. She is the one in the lower left corner caught busting a move. So, this new insect presents a paradigm shift. In response, we are upgrading from the full body condom to Kevlar tactical body armor. And backpack flamethrowers, with free shipping! Oddly enough, these are legal in all 50 states. And unlike wine, can be shipped to all 50 states.

While there are still a million things that could go wrong, this just might turn out to be a very typical Oregon Pinot Noir vintage. It certainly has been awhile since we have seen that. You know, a little lower in alcohol and lighter bodied with intense perfume and teasing acidity. What a little tart this vintage 2020 could turn out to be.

We have started an Instagram feed where we will be posting a cluster as it transitions from drab green to Stunning Pinot Noir! Check out the link here: https://www.instagram.com/amalierobert/

Make the journey to see Dena and Ernie Saturday & Sunday, August 15 & 16 from 10 am to 3 pm by appointment. While offering a 2020 prospective, we are tasting a 2015 retrospective with the following selections in our shaded open-air tasting space, starting with a palate teasing Pinot Noir from the cool 2011 vintage.

 

2011 iPinot Pinot Noir

2015 iPinot Pinot Noir

2015 Pommard Clone Pinot Noir

2015 Wadenswil Clone Pinot Noir

2015 The Reserve Pinot Noir

2015 Heirloom Cameo Chardonnay

 

The tasting fee is $15 with a new Riedel tasting glass and $10 is refundable on any two bottle purchase per person. You may also opt for a new Riedel Burgundy glass for $25 and $10 is refundable on any two bottle purchase per person. The now christened Amalie Robert Riedel glass is yours to keep. You may also opt to bring your own glasses and the glass purchase will be waived.

You can reach Dena by email at Cuvee@amalierobert.com and by phone at 503-88-CUVEE (503-882-8833) to schedule your appointment, or to place an order if you cannot join us.

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie

Amalie Robert Estate Climate Update: July 2020 and Wadenswil Extravaganza Weekend!

Hello and Welcome,
 
This is an Amalie Robert Estate Climate Update: July 2020 and Wadenswil Extravaganza Weekend! A FLOG communication from @AmalieRobert Dena and Ernie. Amalie Robert Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.
 


Make the journey to see Dena and Ernie Saturday & Sunday, August 8 & 9 from 10 am to 3 pm by appointment. We are tasting Wadenswil Clone Pinot Noir! Join us outside with a commanding view of the vines and soaring red-tailed hawks under the protective cover of our swanky new shade canopy. We have hand sanitizer available and will be starting off with 2018 Pinot in Pink lip sanitizer that has a very high percentage of Wadenswil Clone. And while we are outside, masks are optional. You just never know who (or what) you might see.
 

When two worlds collide.

The red-tailed hawks have been screeching and racing through the afternoon skies. They have been surveying our handiwork in the vines and performing a vital vineyard task. They are helping to control the fur bearing rodent population. Here we see the “intended”. The California ground squirrel (Spermophilus beecheyi) in the erect posture. So, if we happen to not see any soaring red-tailed hawks this weekend, it could be because these two species have had their worlds collide. Wouldn’t that be something to see?
 
And Dena has rounded up twice the number of usual yellow jacket suspects. She loaded the traps (packed them full of salmon scraps) and let Nature take its course. Along with the care and feeding of our red-tailed hawks, this is another example of a biological control in the vineyard.
 
We got the hint, delivered somewhat delicately and in other cases not so much. Maybe it’s because Ernie is always on about sedimentary soils and Wadenswil Clone 2A. Maybe because there are few places in the Willamette Valley that can bring the best out of this Swiss clone of Pinot Noir. Maybe it’s because his socks are too tight.
 
Whatever the reason, this weekend is your opportunity to taste select vintages of Amalie Robert Estate Grown Wadenswil Clone Pinot Noir. These wines are typically 2 barrel selections each vintage that produce about 48 cases. With our Wadenswil Clone program we are very much trying to show you something that is “True to soil and true to the vintage”.
 
If you need to brush up on your Wadenswil, you can check out our feature page and read the “Interview with a Clone: Wadenswil 2A” right here. Accept no substitutes.
http://www.amalierobert.com/wadenswil-clone.html
 
Our Wadenswil Extravaganza tasting will be the following selections:
2018 Pinot in Pink Rosé
2011 Wadenswil Clone Pinot Noir
2012 Wadenswil Clone Pinot Noir
2013 Wadenswil Clone Pinot Noir
2016 Wadenswil Clone Pinot Noir
2015 Heirloom Cameo Chardonnay
 
The tasting fee is $15 with a new Riedel tasting glass and $10 is refundable on any two bottle purchase per person. You may also opt for a new Riedel Burgundy glass for $25 and $10 is refundable on any two bottle purchase per person. The now christened Amalie Robert Riedel glass is yours to keep. You may also opt to bring your own glasses and the glass purchase will be waived.
 
We also recognize it may not be possible to co-locate with us this weekend. Perhaps a phobia is responsible. Claustrophobia is the fear of confined spaces. Acute anxiety caused by flying is called aerophobia. Combine these two phobias with mysophobia, the pathological fear of contamination and germs and we have the trifecta that is disabling the air travel industry. Fortunately, wine can co-locate to you.
 
You can reach Dena by email at Cuvee@amalierobert.com and by phone at 503-88-CUVEE (503-882-8833) to schedule your appointment, or to place an order if you cannot join us.
 
Click on the Big Blue Button to make a selection from Amalie Robert Direct and we can hold your order until a temperature appropriate shipping window opens. Please note, we can also schedule delivery to a UPS or FedEx pick up location. Pretty handy if you have Vestiphobia, and do not want people dressed in uniforms coming to your door and interacting with your own individual environment.
 

 
July was one for the record books with the following footnote: We recorded a low temperature of 45.1 degrees and a high temperature of 102.7 degrees and made all the stops along the way. But overall July was pretty kind to the Willamette Valley winegrower.
 
The winegrower’s equipment however, manifested its inherent agrarian vagaries. In fact, Ernie had to perform Tractor Bypass Surgery on one machine. The machine can now maintain cooling fluid integrity and that allows Ernie to pivot his attention to the hedger. Here we see the main “lift cylinder” with a freshly corrupted seal, which is just weeping tractor fluid. Remember these words: Unfortunate, but not uncommon.
 

 
The main lift cylinder allows Ernie to dial in the height of the canopy to maximize the ripening potential from each vintage. Remember those leaves are really just a great big solar array. The taller it is, the more energy for the vines to ripen their seeds. And develop aroma and flavor, which is what we really care about. Hot vintages get short canopies, where it is important to not trim off the tops of the posts. If we ever have another cool vintage, we will hedge a tall canopy.
 
Do you want to take the top or the bottom? As we can see from this Accuweather graphic, there was a considerable amount of variation in the high temperatures for the month of July represented by the top trend line. The low temperatures were fairly well centered around the average as we see from the bottom trend line. Sometimes they have a rhythm and move in unison, sometimes not.
 

 
When we calculate Degree Days we break the month down into 12 minute intervals, or 3,600 data points per 30 day period. Any data point above 50 degrees adds to the Degree Day accumulation. Anything below, does not. As Yoda once said, “You do, or you do not”. He could have been a galactic winegrower. Maybe he was on Mars, probably Riesling or Gewurztraminer. We will see what the latest mission reveals. The Perseverance is cruising at 24,600 MPH on its 300 million mile mission to Mars. That’s about a 12,000-hour trip (1.4 years), one way. Hope they greased all the zerks before they left. https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/
 
So logically, if we have the top raging out of control with 100+ degree temperatures and the bottom dropping below 50 degrees every night, this would seem to be a moderate vintage from a Degree Day point of view. The vines of course would be scorched and tell a dramatically different story. Conversely, if most of the growing season saw temperatures top out in the mid 90’s with low temperatures covering the 40 to 60 degree territory, with a cooling breeze in the evening, that would be a sublime vintage. One quite worthy of our best effort in the vineyard and stewardship in the winery. And it is most definitely about time we had one of those vintages come around.
 
Well, the vineyard is all hedged up with two passes completed. The first pass trims the growing tips off of the dominate shoot. That allows the rest of the shoots to start growing like crazy. And that is when the second pass starts to get everyone’s attention. Our goal is to get the vines to stop growing more leaves and re-direct their energy to ripening their seeds. And in the process building aroma and flavor.
 

Growing like crazy again after the 1^st pass of hedging!

 

Trimmed and now we have their attention after the 2^nd pass of hedging.

 

Speaking of aroma and flavor, we are also shaping the texture of our wines. We do this by pulling leaves out of the fruit zone to expose our wine berries to the sun. But not too much. That silky seductive midpalate sensation we love in our Pinot Noirs comes from leaving a little more shade on our fruit. That was the field work for July. So far so good. August brings with it little pink berries and we start “thinning the herd”.

 

As they say, the Devil is in the details. So, let’s have a look at him.

 

As previously reported, the high for the month was 102.7 degrees recorded on July 26, at 5:36 pm, with the low temperature registering 45.1 degrees recorded on July 3, at 5:00 am. Degree Days for the month of July totaled 505.4. This brings the vintage 2020 growing Degree Day total to 1,237.5.

 

 

There were clouds, but no rain. Also, we did have Comet NEOWISE whiz by during the second half of the month. On July 23^rd, they say the comet was a scant 64 million miles from Earth. Hell, harvest is closer than that and coming up quick!

 

The outlook for the remainder of Vintage 2020 is coming into view. And our view is that the weather will continue to moderate and provide a nice bit of hang time for our mid to low-yield vintage. That is direct from the farming farmer that farms our farm. You can take that to the bank, and for an additional $2 supplement, you can get a cup of farming coffee. Not great coffee, but it will get the job done. But the cup might leak on your new shoes. Unfortunate, but not uncommon.

 

You can reach Dena by email at Cuvee@amalierobert.com and by phone at 503-88-CUVEE (503-882-8833) to schedule your appointment, or to place an order if you cannot join us.

 

Kindest Regards,

 

Dena & Ernie

Amalie Robert Estate Update: Open House July 25-26 & Tractor Bypass Surgery

Hello and Welcome, 

  

This is an Amalie Robert Estate Update: Open House and Tractor Bypass Surgery. A FLOG communication from Dena and Ernie. Amalie Robert Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. 

  

Please join Dena and Ernie for our next Open House on Saturday, July 25 & Sunday, July 26, from 10 am to 3 pm by appointment. An Evite will arrive shortly to schedule your preferred tasting day and time. You may also reach Dena by email at Cuvee@amalierobert.com and by phone at 503-88-CUVEE (503-882-8833) to schedule your appointment, or to place an order if you cannot join us.

Well, we have turned the corner in the vineyard. Our three sets of catch wires are up and clipped into place, the first hedge is completed, and the vineyard crew has done their best at removing the proper amount of leaf coverage to just partially expose our wine berries. We wouldn’t want to show too much skin this early in the game. The fruit set looks to be light, but the numbers are not yet in.

Vineyard inspector number 527, without an appointment, ready for a little outdoor tasting @AmalieRobert

Open air outdoor wine tastings are happening from 10 am to 3 pm each and every weekend now through Labor Day. Make an appointment and come on by, you just don’t know who you might see. Here is the tasting protocol under the new shade canopy overlooking 35 acres of Amalie Robert Estate Vines.

Upon arrival you will be offered your choice of barrel station. Each barrel station is at least 6 feet away from any other barrel station and is equipped with a bottle of sanitizer to be used on your hands. Lip sanitizer, by definition, is part of the tasting program.

Your barrel station will include a new Amalie Robert Riedel glass (they make these just for us) for each person in your party and an unopened bottle of water that you may share among your party to rinse your new stemware. There will also be a double-sided all-in-one tasting program and order form. We may also include some laminated marketing SWAG that is sanitized before and after your tasting appointment. The tasting fee is $15 with the Riedel tasting glass and $10 is refundable on any two bottle purchase per person. You may also opt for the Riedel Burgundy glass for $25 and $10 is refundable on any two bottle purchase per person. The now christened Amalie Robert Riedel glass is yours to keep and may be rinsed again.

We understand travel is somewhat of a challenge this year. If you find that you cannot make it to the vineyard, let us pack up a little of our terroir and ship it to you, weather permitting. Use the Big Blue Button to pre-order for pick up, or to place an order for shipping.

If you are spending some quality time watching films, may we suggest some timeless classics such as the Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot series, or maybe the ever-thrilling Alfred Hitchcock or the short lived original Star Trek series. All very Pinot family friendly.

Now if you find yourself at the corner of confused and bewildered, you may have just crossed the border into the Twilight Zone. Or our local Safeway, where you can find the depleted shelves being restocked with never before seen products, such as this.

And so now that the vineyard is cruising on autopilot, you are probably wondering what Ernie is doing with all his spare time between now and harvest. Well, let’s just say he is keeping himself amused.

Has this ever happened to you? You sit down to peruse the daily inoculum of mayhem from your E-mail productivity program and it shows you nothing. Your first clue that something has gone awry is that you are using software written by the world’s second greatest marketing company, whose stock symbol is MSFT. The first greatest marketing company is, of course, Lionel Trains.

You click the little blue button with your pointing device (whose idea was originally stolen from Digital Equipment Company) and a medium sized blue screen appears that informs you that your (MSFT annuity based revenue stream) E-mail program is starting. Then the screen disappears, and that’s all you get. Sweet F@ck All, is the phrase Ernie picked up in MSFT Ireland.

Standard operating procedure is to shut down, pour another cup of morning accelerant and start up again. Rinse and repeat - same result. At this point you realize you are not the only person to have had this problem, just the latest one. Off to the wonderful word of web browsing to see just how bad this problem is, and how one might once again gain access to one’s E-mail file – in a timely manner.

Fortunately, this problem is unfortunate, but not uncommon. A quick little diagnosis reveals you may start the offending program in safe mode with this run command: Outlook /safe. You will notice there is a space in this command. Must be a typo, Ernie thought. Nope, it’s there on purpose. Remember, first and foremost, this is a marketing company.

And lo and behold Outlook starts in safe mode and right there in front of you are all of your E-mails and subfolders containing even more E-mails! And a history of every E-mail you have ever sent, just in case. Now the fix here is simplicity itself, just disable the add-in (that added itself in) that is causing Outlook to not start up on its own. Right, what’s a cubit?

Yeah, don’t hold your breath. After disemboweling the Outlook program, and rebooting each and every time, still no joy. “Aye captain, I’ve got some bad news for yea. I am afraid it is time to eject the warp core.” No, there is an even easier and faster solution that Ernie picked up working at MSFT. You quite simply and with great pleasure, uninstall the offending program! It is really simple and quite gratifying. Another half cup of mid-morning accelerant and a high fiber bran muffin is your reward as you watch the little blue bar get longer and longer as your Intel Core i7, 7th Gen x86 based processor vanquishes the malignant software. Now we are making an impact!

By the way, when are we moving off the x86 architecture? We really should be 4 valves per cylinder, direct injection twin turbos by now. Or hydrogen power, or warp drive.

Next up, install a clean, uncorrupted version of the offending software. A quick download is the norm, but here in the middle of nowhere with nowhere internet service, we have some time to bake a fresh batch of high fiber bran muffins. A quick reboot, and there it is. Everything is back to “new-normal” and you may resume your early afternoon onboarding of mayhem. Maybe time to back-up your files.

And then it hits you. It’s tractor maintenance week at Uncle Ernie’s work farm. Three Italian tractors, one German rototiller, one French hedger, one Canadian sprayer and an Irish-American mower. This year, we have a nice little crop of issues that really should have been non-issues except for the fact that the Italians seem to have lost a few pages in translation getting to ISO 9000.

After 20 years that overly tight zip tie finally cut through a heater hose going to the cab in the tractor in which Ernie spends a significant amount of quality time spraying the vineyard. No big deal you think, we really do not need heat in the cab this time of year, and besides the air conditioning was just repaired.

Tractor bypass surgery

Except for the fact that the heater hose is connected to the water pump which is connected to the radiator which cools the 100 horsepower diesel engine that powers the whole shebang. Lose all of the coolant and what you have left is a really big paperweight stuck in the middle of 35 acres of vines. At least the wheel studs are tight this year.

And then there is the ever-expanding puddle of transmission oil dripping off of the muffler mounted directly below the transmission. No matter how you spin that, it does not come out well. There is a single oil line coming from the engine compartment disappearing underneath the cab, behind the interior panels and reappearing just before the rear axle.

Turns out we have a metal clamp, without a protective rubber gromet, that secures this metal oil line to the transmission housing. And get this, there is a whole bundle of electrical wires zip tied to that metal oil line! Much like the Grinch, you can only put up with this for so long before metal fatigue becomes a rupture. What could this possibly operate? Doesn’t really matter, it is an oil leak that leaks on the muffler. You don’t have to be a winemaker to realize oil dripping on a hot muffler is not a sustainable condition. What is it with the Italians and their zip ties?

You know, these cell phones have incredible cameras these days. Who remembers The Eastman Kodak Company? A picture may well be worth a 1,000 words but sending off an image to the engineers who designed the equipment is priceless. And much less is lost in translation, even with the Canadians, eh?

Here we have a chain drive pump with an idler bearing. A classic and farmer tested design that has not evolved much, if at all since it was invented. And if it works, you don’t get to fix it - yet. But if the idler bearing is wearing out in less than 1 season, you cannot escape the conclusion, and $107 plus freight, that something is askew. And in this case it is the out of alignment lower pump drive sprocket “walking” its way back along the input shaft where it will meet certain doom when the chain comes in contact with the frame. This is a priority one repair, as in do it right farming now. Yabba Dabba Do It Now!

What the engineer sees

What the winegrower sees

Leverage. When you have applied the maximum amount of force with the hammers you have and are not making an impact, you need leverage. Leverage in the form of a 4 foot bar and your best hammer not so gently coaxing this sprocket back to its original factory installed position. Hence, we apply the principle E=mc2 where the mass does not change, however it does absorb significant energy. And over time, directly applied energy slowly realigns the lower pump drive sprocket with the upper sprocket, thus extending the life of said idler bearing. You learn Einstein’s theory of relativity in school, but applied percussive maintenance is learned on the job. Please refer to page 118 of the May issue of Modern Agrarian.

And of course, there are the standard oil, lube and filter chores for 5 diesel powered machines. Nice to see a pack of field mice thought the air cleaner was a good place to build a nest. Top off the radiator, check the tires and don’t forget to grease the zerks. They really appreciate it. And so, that is what gets Ernie out of bed in the morning, albeit very cautiously. Almost as much fun as opening E-mail…

But the vines sure look nice!

You can reach Dena by email at Cuvee@amalierobert.com and by phone at 503-88-CUVEE (503-882-8833) to schedule your appointment, or to place an order if you cannot join us.

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie