Vintage Update: Flowers 2023
Hello and Welcome,
This is a special vintage update: We have flowers! Nothing says “I Love You” like a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a bottle of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. In our case, we have 35 acres of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir flowers. That’s a whole lotta flowers!
The BIG Picture
And we are off! Vintage 2023 is now officially on the vine. We spotted our first Pinot Noir flowers on June 9th. It just happened to be Dick Erath’s clone 95 grafted onto Ernie’s preferred rootstock 5C. The 30-year average date for seeing Pinot Noir flowers is June 15th. We are a little bit ahead of the curve, but at this point it is a distinction without much difference.
Our “time to target” is 105 days, more or less. That is about how long it takes to develop Pinot Noir aroma and flavor in the Willamette Valley. And if the vintage is cool to moderate, as it has been so far, we can expect lower sugar concentrations resulting in lower alcohol wines. ALL 👍 NO 💩!
As this is farming, we can expect all manner of perils along our journey to The Great Cluster Pluck. Most likely a little rain here and there before it is all said and done. We take it in stride and keep an eye out for the rainbow. Sometimes it is a double! That’s when we see the unicorn come out (do you see it?)
During the next week to 10 days the weather is forecast to be warm and dry. These conditions are IDEAL for pollination. Unfortunately, this can be too much of a good thing. If all the flowers pollinate, there will not be enough room on the stem to hold all of those wine berries. Then you have the viticultural equivalent of Survivor.
But not today. Today we celebrate the flowers and the beginning of the journey to vintage 2023!
We are Living the Dream, so You Don’t Have To!
Winemaking: The Continuation of Terroir by Other Means. ® is our story. An unfinished set of autobiographical stories reflecting our agrarian endeavor, marked by “unfortunate, but not uncommon” experiences and easily referenced by vintage. Irreverently referred to as the FLOG (Farming bLOG), it captures our 20+ year journey of making a winegrowing life in Willamette Valley wine country. The FLOG is available to read on Substack for FREE.
If you are not afraid of commitment, you can even subscribe so as not to miss a single FLOG. Also, FREE. And if you want to see what we think is worth seeing on a more regular basis, follow us on Instagram @AmalieRobert. It’s FREE! It's ALL FREE!
Are you planning to enjoy traveling again, attending Oregon Pinot Camp, and exploring the Willamette Valley? We know you want to! Go ahead, be the smartest person in the room by downloading our FREE guide to the Willamette Valley sub-AVA's! Here are the 11 Willamette Valley sub-AVA’s listed by acreage, as of May 2023:
Willamette Valley sub-AVA’s. Image Credit: Willamette Valley Wineries Association
We are open by appointment for the entire month of June! You can request a tasting appointment with your preferred day and time. Dena will confirm your appointment and create a tasting event specific to your party – that’s the way we do it. We are also a featured winery in the International Pinot Noir Celebration (IPNC) this year! If we don’t see you here, maybe we we will see you there.
Keep in mind, wine flies FREE from 32 west coast cities on Alaska Airlines. This includes our two closest airports Eugene (EUG) and Portland (PDX). Amalie Robert Estate is open year-round by appointment for vineyard tours and tastings.
Note: Your appointment may collide with a soaring red-tailed hawk. Raptors are in the air patrolling the vineyard for those pesky gophers and other rodents. We are a dog friendly site, but it's a best practice to keep small dogs close by. You can learn more about who we are and what we believe by taking our Virtual Tour!
Kindest Regards,
Dena & Ernie