Amalie Robert Estate Vintage Update: 2016 Flowers and Tight Asstd. Wines

Hello and Welcome,  

The heady scent of pollination is in the air at Amalie Robert Estate. 

We are going to get it on, now! Actually, it will be the vines that will be getting their wine berries on over the next few days, right at the end of their collective pedicels. Here’s how they do it.

First the protective cap, or Calyptra, is cut off from the vascular tissue at the pedicel. As the cap dries up and falls away, the flower is exposed. Pollen grains from the Anther find their way into the Stigma, just as they have for centuries. Wine berries are self pollinating, so the only variable here is Mother Nature.

And it just so happens we are in for a nice warm dry spell which should see uniform pollination and a whole lot of it. This is better than the alternative, at least from a wine growing point of view.

We spied the first flower on the first vine on Friday, May 27th (Julian calendar day 148) in a lovely little block of Pommard clone Pinot Noir grafted onto our beloved 5C rootstock. 5C is the most deeply rooted of all the rootstocks we grow. It most closely resembles the rooting proclivities of own rooted vines.

This is “YUGE!” as a dry farmed vineyard. We like deep rooting rootstocks that can tap into the last of the available soil moisture at the end of the growing season. Because, as everyone knows, irrigation cheats you out of the true character of the vintage.

So, now we have the answer to the first riddle of the 2016 growing season: When are we going to harvest? The answer is “it depends.” But we should certainly have a harvest window starting to open around Julian calendar day 253. In typical Oregonvintages, we need about 105 days from flowering to develop expressive aroma and flavor before The Great Cluster Pluck.

However, any and all manner of atrocities may befall us on the road to harvest. We could even get schlonged. Or it could be nice all the way through, just don’t bet the farm on it. And bear in mind, this is a leap year - it’s “YUGE!”

As summer descends upon us, we would like to remind everyone that we grow and produce an assortment of wines including White, Blanc and Rosé for your enjoyment. All of these wines are fermented in stainless steel and provide a crisp and tight finish.

Collectively, when short on space, we refer to them as our “Tight Asstd. Wines.”

Varietally speaking, we offer the 2015 Her Silhouette Chardonnay and 2014 Our Muse Viognier.

Stylistically, we offer a Blanc de Noir wine, 2015 Bellpine Pearl and our dry Rosé is the 2015 Pinot in Pink Rosé of Pinot Noir.

Follow this link to shop for some Tight Asstd. Wines.

SWAC (Sealed With A Cork.)

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie