Amalie Robert Estate Climate Update: April 2026 & Memorial Day Weekend Open House
Hello and Welcome,
This is the April Climate Update and Photo Journal, Vintage 2026, from Amalie Robert Estate. A FLOG Communication. Approximate reading time 0.25 ARB’s (Adult Recreational Beverages); Pictures only 0.1 ARB’s.
April in Willamette Valley wine country, what an exciting time to be alive! The Pinot Noir vines know this and that is why they break bud in April. The lavender lilacs and Montmorency cherry trees bloom at the same time. This is more correlation than causation. Freezing temperatures are our primary nemesis during this fragile time. But not this year, Mr. Frost.
This annual milestone was not lost on the agricultural equipment. Ernie was treated to a front row seat for the most unexpected and unwanted hydraulic hose failure. He was sitting right there in the tractor when the hydraulic hose that pressurizes the forklift blew out. And it sprayed the most amazing starburst pattern of red hydraulic fluid all over the front of the tractor! It was really something… that disabled the tractor and took all of the next day to repair.
But that’s life in the agrarian endeavor. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.
In This Communication:
The REALLY BIG Picture
Ready, Set, Go!
The Numbers
Save the Date: Memorial Day Weekend Open House
Other Resources
The REALLY BIG Picture
Ready, Set, Go!
While it looked like we were stump ranchers all winter, the vines were busy with their subterranean pursuits. That mostly entails roots picking up nutrients from the soil solution and avoiding gophers that eat their roots. Nitrogen is the main macronutrient the vines need to put up a healthy canopy and ripen wine berries. The vine roots can’t really move, but when gophers break the plane of the surface, they are fair game to be hunted by our raptors - and provide them with nutrients. Everyone here has a job. No passengers, all crew.
Phosphorus and Potassium are the other nutrients that complete the macronutrient triumvirate. Much like the American system of governance, these three coequal nutrients govern the vines growth. Whichever is in the shortest supply governs how much the vine can grow. The goal is to find your Herbie.
And then we moved right along into bud break on April 10. It was a few days ahead of the average, but when you gotta go, you gotta go. Bud break occurs when the vine roots’ hydrostatic pressure and Mother Natures warming smile encourage the vines to put forth tender new growth.
We take a moment of pause to appreciate that this cycle of life repeats year end and year out without any human intervention at all. As humans, we have the rest of the growing season to interact with their environment. And we do.
Bud Break is also the signal to start turning over the soil. We look at the soil as the vines stomach, and you need to feed it. We incorporate last year’s cover crop into the soil to provide nutrients for our vines. The winter peas and grains we planted last fall helped to prevent our topsoil from washing away during the winter rains. Now with the help of some mechanization and worms (you have to have the worms) these plants will naturally compost into the soil and release nutrients into the vines’ rootzone. Fertilization, the natural way. Not chemical fertilizer stuck on some container ship in the hormuzian straight.
As the vine’s life cycle begins, so does the equipment maintenance cycle. This is more causation than correlation, Ernie was treated to a pre-season “hydraulic event” to set the pace for Vintage 2026. Tractor oil and filter changes, along with air cleaners and coolant checks are standard preventative maintenance items.
Batteries will tell you, in their own particular idiom, when it is time for a change. A little percussive maintenance is usually involved. Beating on farming things usually doesn’t cause much damage and can be somewhat therapeutic. Good for the soul.
The flail mower, rototiller and hedger all are just biding their time lying in wait. Ernie tries to buy them off with a few pumps from the grease gun each morning. But sometimes they are looking for a little more, and other times, a lot more.
Infrastructure projects mostly entail mending broken trellis wires and replacing trellis posts. The former is just from regular wear and tear. The latter is usually from less than ideal tractor driving. But not always. Sometimes rodents will find that the “u” shaped channel that our steel posts create will make for an ideal entry point for rodents to build a burrow. As they do that, the soil around the post is removed and the post is no longer anchored into the soil.
Rodentia (comprising over 40% of all mammal species) also chew the wires on anything electrical and, along with the “wingee-stingee-thingee’s” are the bane of the agrarian endeavor.
The Numbers
The numbers in April are real, but as far as Vintage 2026 goes, they are a preliminary view. They can tell us if the soil is fully charged with water. We can also learn if we have had any freeze events. But other than that, the April numbers do not give us any real, actionable intelligence into the vintage. The price of diesel, however, does transfer some unequivocal knowledge.
April 2026 logged 229 Degree Days for the month. The high temperature for the month was 87.6 degrees Fahrenheit recorded on April 6, at 3 pm. The low temperature for the month was 35.1 degrees recorded on April 3, at 6 am. The Degree Days were remarkably even for the first half of the month, 114 Degree Days v the second half of the month at 115 Degree Days. We did not experience a frost event.
We recorded 3.42 inches of rain for the month of April, mostly in the first half of the month. Along with the warm temperatures, this bodes well for early season canopy growth. In other words, we are going to be getting busy sooner rather than later!
Save the Date: Memorial Day Weekend Open House
Please join Dena and Ernie for our Memorial Day Weekend Open House. The winery will be open Saturday, May 23 through Monday, May 25, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm by appointment. We will be sampling new releases and a few library favorites. Book your tasting appointment with your preferred day and time here:
If you will be enjoying Memorial Day weekend somewhere other than here, the Big Blue Button can help you put together your own sampling selection for the long weekend.
Wine Shipping for 2026: All 12-bottle case orders (mix and match encouraged) receive up to a $40 shipping credit. 6-11 bottle orders receive up to a $15 shipping credit. All shipping options are available to you. You can apply your credit to ground shipping, or next day air. The credit also applies to Alaska and Hawaii shipments. We suggest a UPS or FedEx drop point to a climate controlled facility to allow you to pick up your wine at your leisure.
And it’s better on the A-List! A-List members receive a 10% discount on any 1-11 bottle purchase and a 20% discount on a 12-bottle case purchase. Please email Dena to hook you up!
Kindest Regards,
Dena & Ernie