Amalie Robert Estate Vintage Update: 2011 May Bud Break

Hello and Welcome to the 2011 growing season!

Amalie Robert Estate declared Bud Break on May 5, 2011. This is day 125 on the Julian calendar and is as late as we have seen in the Willamette Valley.

But let's put this in context before someone declares this the worst vintage in history. After the 2007 dust-up, everyone knows who that might be.

Bud Break is the first visible sign that the wines are waking up. The next step is for the vines to grow shoots, then flower, pollinate and set fruit.

From such humble beginnings, we want to harvest mature and healthy grapes after sharing a small portion with the birds. We know we will begin harvest about 105 days after the vines flower and set fruit. But when will they flower?

Let's draw a parallel from the vines yearly cycle to our own daily lives.

Waking up on Monday morning and getting to work is something most of us have done, at least once in our lives. The time we spend from the moment the alarm goes off, until we get in the car varies day by day. We respond to the issues at hand like no hot water, or being out of coffee. But once we get in the car, we usually have a route that gets us to work within a fairly constant span of time.
Think of the vines as just waking up. They are responding to this year's weather patterns and have not yet gotten to the work of putting up shoots and flowers. Once they do flower however, we know to add 105 days for a potential harvest window.
What we do not know is how long the vines need to get their flowers on. At least we know what we don't know. So, let's give the vines a chance to actually get to work before we start docking their pay, and knocking the vintage.
Kindest Regards,
Dena and Ernie