Amalie Robert Estate Vintage Update: 2011 August Pinot Noir In Flagrante Update

Hello and Welcome to the unfolding drama that is the 2011 growing season!

The 2011 vintage is starting to show its true color. The first blush of the vintage occurred on day 237 of the growing season - August 25th, 2011. For comparative purposes only, the 2010 vintage gave us a "blazing pink" berry on day 235.

The favored block was another of the select few Wadenswil clone blocks, and it is grafted onto 5C rootstock. Block 21 has an east facing aspect at about 500 foot elevation and is being meticulously tended for the discerning folks at Cristom Vineyards.

It looks like we are making up some lost time. The reason is the warm days and even warmer than typical nights. Why just last night, our midnight vineyard temperature was 68.4 degrees F! You don’t need Paris Hilton to tell you that’s hot. The past week has seen this weather pattern and we expect the same for at least another few days to conclude the month of August. So far so good.

We cannot say if this will significantly impact the harvest window but we see it as a first sign that harvest is on its way. Growing wine (aka wineberries) is not significantly different from growing other berries in the Willamette Valley, except for the fact we are the last crop to be harvested in the fall. So we share about the same set of circumstances faced by all fruit growers - getting the crop off before the rains, rot and winged rodents set upon us.

This is what the entire year's worth of work boils down to. Ripening up a few tons of fruit and getting it off.

All the best,

Dena and Ernie