Amalie Robert Estate: July Climate Update
Hello and Welcome,
This is the Amalie Robert Estate July Climate Update, Vintage 2022. Never say never. July continued June’s cool weather pattern, until it didn’t. And that week of heat just happened to coincide with the in-person International Pinot Noir celebration (IPNC) held at Linfield University campus in McMinnville, and surrounding Willamette Valley wineries. It was the hottest ticket in town!
Mother Nature comes to IPNC, and brings the heat!
Here in the shadow of Mt. Pisgah, our average temperature for the month of July was a very pleasant 68.9 degrees. The kick off to IPNC was Friday the 29th, and that just happens to be when we recorded July’s high temperature of 101 degrees. And then, just like nothing ever happened, our temperatures in August dropped back down into the lower 80’s. Very pleasant, indeed.
The Big Picture
July is typically the month that Ernie gets to spend a significant amount of time with his three significant others. They are all Italians. The model is Landini, affectionately known as “Land Weenie”. All in all, they are pretty good vineyard tractors at about 100 horsepower each - when they want to start. But with 20 years on them, they are starting to show their age. Once the oil and assorted filters are changed, tire pressure checked, wheel studs tightened and all the zerks have been greased, July is the time to do some hedging.
But the French hedger had a hydraulic cylinder fail. That put us a week behind. But with new cylinders (from France) installed, Ernie was ready to get his hedge on. Unfortunately, there was an electrical issue with the tractor-hedger combination that discharged the battery after about 4 hours of use. While diesel engines do not require electricity to run, the rest of the tractor does. Once the battery is severely drained, the air conditioning, and the fan that provides the cool air to the tractor operator (Ernie), ceases to function.
Diagnostically, there are three areas to inspect: The battery, the alternator and the wiring that connects them. And it is really hard to gain access to the front of the tractor where the battery is inconveniently located, due to the clam shell hood running up against the hedger. Oh, and a maybe look for worn wires inside the sealed hedger control module that might be shorting out. Right.
The most economical place to buy new, high quality batteries is Walmart. If you do curbside pick-up, there is no core charge. First off, for $120 we can eliminate the old battery as an issue. But once the new battery was drained, it would not charge up. It could be a bad battery, but not likely. A quick turn of 4 screws opened the hedger control module. Sure enough there was one wire with the insulation scraped off. And that bare wire was shorting out inside the control module. Just as quick as you please, a little white liquid Teflon pipe sealant covered up that exposed wire. Instant wire insulation.
All good. Ernie started the tractor, and the battery took a charge. Success snatched from the jaws of defeat! This had the secondary advantage of verifying the alternator was working. Replacement alternator is $400, plus freight, and installation. ETA was mid to late September. The sun will also charge your battery, but it takes a while.
Ernie was back on it the next morning. Happily hedging the vines and mowing the grass as he did it. Right around noon, Ernie could tell it was time for lunch. He knew that because the tractor battery was drained. So back down to the shop with the tractor, and a quick bite of lunch.
The battery was fine, the alternator was charging, and there were no more exposed wires. That left the last link in the electrical chain. The connection between the battery and the rest of the electrical accessories. There are three accessory wires in addition to the main battery cable attached to the positive terminal. Those three accessory wires go into a plastic quick-disconnect coupler. And there-in was the weak link. A whole new wiring harness is $850, not including the associated freight and install, from Italy. ETA unknown.
Necessity is truly the mother of invention, and all other forms of making things work with what you have available. Just ask those guys and gals that brought Apollo 13 back home. Once the real issue was finally exposed, it was time to rummage through the left over, discarded and “just in case” parts that farmers never throw away. It didn’t take long, and with the help of some wiring pieces from an old Chevy, Ernie had “re-imagined” the quick disconnect coupler.
To recap, a new battery and 86 cents worth of spare parts meant Ernie could now operate $80,000 worth of FARM equipment! On life’s journey, it is important to recognize the value of the little things as you aim to conquer the big things. And age appropriate swear words, but avoid these 7.
Electrical issues were an improvement over vintage 2021’s broken wheel.
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Amalie Robert Estate Open House THIS Weekend!
The winery will be open this weekend, August 13th & 14th, from 10 am - 3 pm by appointment. Request a tasting appointment with your preferred day and time. We have a significant amount of avian activity this time of year including birds that eat fruit, birds that eat insects, birds that eat other birds and Red-tailed Hawks that help keep the rodent population in check, among other things. We are a dog friendly site, but it is a best practice to keep small dogs close by.
And just in time! National Pinot Noir Day is quickly approaching. August 18th is National Pinot Noir Day (NPND), and we are ready to kit you out for the big day.
If you are going to be in the area, please request a tasting appointment. If you are not going to be in the area, the Big Blue Button is standing by to assist. Standard flat rate shipping applies until your order total exceeds $350, then domestic ground shipping is on us. Note: We ALWAYS coordinate a time and temperature appropriate shipping time BEFORE we ship. If you need us to hold your wine, we are happy to do so.
We suggest a UPS or FedEx drop point to allow you to pick up your wine at your leisure. This means your wine goes from our below ground cellar to a temperature-controlled facility where it is stored until you pick it up. This avoids your wines cruising through the neighborhood for a few days before they get to you. Please email Dena for shipping options to Alaska and Hawaii.
The Main Story
It is starting to look like Vintage 2022 is going to be on the cool side. After a late start to the season, we have not accumulated that much heat. And more than half of the heat from this year’s vintage came from the month of July, courtesy of the last week. But things are ever (climate) changing.
Cool air from the Gulf of Alaska rides the Jet Stream to our rescue. Cool temperatures help to maintain a balance between aroma and flavor development versus excess sugar concentration. And that means high quality wine with lower potential alcohol levels. It also means a harvest window stretching well into October. The risk of wildfire smoke impacting the wine berries is once again very real.
The Jet Stream also helps out in other ways. And by that we mean helping to prevent and control wildfires. Yes, it is that time of year again. This map from the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center shows the wildfires in Oregon and Washington. These fires all just started at the end of July, or early August.
The fire to monitor right now is the McKinney fire at the northern border of California. A northerly shift of the Jet Stream can bring that smoke and particulate matter up into the Willamette Valley. From that distance, the smoke may not have much of an impact on Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. However, the atmospheric particulate matter will block the sun’s rays. That increases global dimming and reduces photosynthesis while holding in the Earth’s heat thus raising our temperatures. Dena does not care for this, Ernie can vouch for that. And it is a health hazard to be harvesting in those conditions.
Heavy particulate matter can produce some stunning sunrises and sunsets. Maybe pair with a nice glass of Rosé. But if the skies are clear where you are, August presents some spectacular star gazing. Check out this link for the meteor shower schedule. The third and final Super Moon of 2022 will rise on August 11th. You can call it what you will, but the Old Farmers Almanac has a few full moon names including: the Sturgeon Moon, the Corn Moon, the Black Cherries Moon and the Mountain Shadows Moon.
What Does This Mean and Why Should I Care
The wines. The wines from cooler growing seasons that stretch the harvest window. These are the Pinot Noir wines we most appreciate from the Willamette Valley. Elegant bouquets, lighter bodied and lower alcohol are all hallmarks of cooler vintages. Wines from this type of vintage are age worthy and will stand alongside wines from the world’s finest growing regions building complexity and nuance as they mature.
While this year’s crop is not quite ready, you can find some wonderfully preserved wine berries from previous vintages right here with the Big Blue Button.
The Numbers
We recorded 588.4 Degree Days for the month of July yielding a growing season to date total of 1,089.1 Degree Days. More than half of our growing season to date Degree Days came in the month of July.
The high temperature for the month of July was 101.3 recorded on July 29th at 12:24 pm. Our low temperature was 45.3 degrees recorded on July 18th at 5:36 am. We recorded 0.16 inches of rain on July 6th. The total rainfall received from the start of the growing season on April 1st is 13.21 inches.
We like to take a minute and perform a situational review as we reflect on the growing season to date. July data provides us an opportunity to consider what has transpired so far and what we might expect for the next 60 days of ripening. For the month of July, were a little above our 21 year average. This graph shows the average degree day accumulation for the month of July, comparing our 21 year average with vintage 2022 (588 degree days).
Looking at the growing season to date informs us that we are a little short in Degree Day accumulation based on our 21 year average. This graph shows the average Degree Day accumulation for the growing season from April 1 through July 31, comparing our 21 year average with vintage 2022 (1,089 Degree days).
After all of the analysis, we can report that the vines look good. We have yet to see our first pink berry that tells us harvest is coming to breakfast. We set a heavy crop that will need to be thinned down to what we think we can ripen. Our harvest forecast is set to begin in mid-October. And that is typical of a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir harvest. It is going to be old school, and we are really looking forward to that.
Kindest Regards,
Dena & Ernie