Amalie Robert Estate Vintage Update: Flowers 2025
Hello and Welcome,
The Pinot Noir is flowering in the Willamette Valley! Vintage 2025 is pollinating, and we are having some of the most EPIC weather! Since wine berries are self-pollinating, we do not have to rely on insects to fecundate the vines.
And mostly right on schedule, too. The first week of June brought the first Pinot Noir flowers on June 5th (to be exact), in Block 14 (to be precise), on Pommard Clone Pinot Noir grafted onto 101-14 rootstock (to be sure).
The results from a recent agrarian survey (of farmers) were recently made public. Among the very simply stated questions was this little gem: “As an agrarian worker (farmer), what do you do in your spare time?”
The overwhelming majority of respondents indicated they did not understand the question. The remaining respondents did not know what day it was.
In This Communication:
The Big MOVING Picture
What Does That Mean, and Why Should I Care?
Traveling to the Willamette Valley?
Winemaking: The Continuation of Terroir by Other Means.®
Other Resources
The Big MOVING Picture
The vines are preprogrammed to engage in flowering at or around this time each year. After 25 years of this, Ernie is now hardwired to get the vineyard floor ready for this momentous occasion. Included in, but not limited to, his preparation includes all of the mowing, chisel plowing, rototilling and drilling in the spring cover crop. Add in the spring equipment maintenance of oil changes and other minor to moderate progressive maintenance, and well, he is a pretty busy guy.
Dena keeps a picture of him in her purse. Ernie tries not to fall asleep at the dinner table.
And our friends the volunteer cherries are marking the occasion. As the vines put out their flowers, the Montmorency cherries are starting to turn color. Oh, it is a wonderful juxtaposition of one crop starting their journey, and another crop signally that harvest is almost here.
But not yet. We have 105 days of ripening to go. That’s the historical Willamette Valley average for ripening Pinot Noir. Applying a little farmer math, that means the harvest window officially opens at Amalie Robert Estate on September 18th. We know that because June 5th is Julian calendar day 156. And 156 plus 105 is 261. And Julian calendar day 261 is Thursday, September 18th. Farmer math: So easy a winemaker can do it!
What Does That Mean, and Why Should I Care?
Want wine? Then you need flowers to pollinate and turn into wine berries. We are experiencing ideal pollinating weather, which translates into a very high percentage of flowers setting fruit and becoming viable wine berries.
All good. Except that Mother Nature has designed a Pinot Noir stem to hold about 85 wine berries. Why? We don’t know. But we do know she puts more than 85 flowers on that stem. She is most likely playing the law of averages, in that most years we will not have all of the flowers pollinate.
Well, from the look of things here, we are going to be over received. And when that happens, someone is going to get thrown off the island. As the wine berries mature and swell, they end up crowding each other out until some of them get separated from the stem and dry out. These unfortunate wine berries are called “push outs”. If you have ever ridden the New York subway system during late August, you have seen this phenomenon (and experienced the commensurate aroma) in action.
So, in theory, we are setting about 6 tons of wine berries per acre. But when it all shakes out, some of those wine berries will not make it to The Great Cluster Pluck. This just adds another bit of complexity to the crop estimation calculations. Not to worry, Ernie has a spreadsheet for that. His slide rule finally broke, and Dena has not “had a chance” to find a replacement.
Oh look, it’s Windows 11! What could possibly go wrong…
Traveling to the Willamette Valley?
Planning to enjoy traveling and exploring the Willamette Valley? There are two primary gateways to the Willamette Valley. Most people are familiar with Portland International airport (PDX) at the top of the Willamette Valley. However, there is a second gateway in Eugene (EUG) at the south end of the Willamette Valley. Both of these airports service the major carriers.
Insider Tip: Alaska Airlines offers a Wine Flies Free program from both PDX and EUG. You will need to acquire a wine shipper box as you tour the valley. When you check in for your flight, indicate you have a case of wine, and it will be checked for FREE on Alaska Airlines. BONUS: Many wineries will provide you a FREE wine shipper box with a 6 bottle purchase.
Interested in learning about the newest AVA? Download our FREE guide to the Willamette Valley AVA’s!
Amalie Robert Estate is open year round by appointment for vineyard tours and tastings. Request a tasting appointment with your preferred day and time.
Winemaking: The Continuation of Terroir by Other Means.®
We are living the dream so you don’t have to. Winemaking: The Continuation of Terroir by Other Means.® is a repository of our farming history at Amalie Robert Estate.
We have over 200 posts going back some 25 years. It’s all out there on Substack. You can visit the archive for FREE! If you want to see what we see on a more regular basis, follow us on Instagram @AmalieRobert.
Kindest Regards,
Dena & Ernie
Other Resources
Visit our Website
Visit the FLOG Archive
Take the Amalie Robert Tour
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Download your FREE Willamette Valley sub-AVA Guide
Alaska Airlines Wines Fly Free