2006 Vincent Pinot Noir is ready

It's true. My first real wine is ready for release. Interested in tasting it?

Elevage readers who find themselves in the Portland, OR, area on the afternoon of November 16, come by my garage to taste my 2006 Pinot Noir from the Wahle Vineyard outside of Yamhill. I'll even have a barrel sample of the 2007 to try, as well as a few other wines for comparison. No charge, just make sure to email me at vincentfritzsche (at) yahoo dot com and I'll fill you in on the time and address. It's a drop in thing. Feel free to bring a bottle of something you like. It's going to be low key like that.

Here's the label up close and personal:



Yes, it's called Vincent. I was telling someone about it recently and she said, "that's it?" Well, yes. That's my name. She seemed to think it might be a little vain, but it was also my uncle's and grandfather's name. And it happens to be the name of the patron saint of winemakers. Vin...wine, it seems to fit.

She seemed satisfied, but I'm interested to see what others think.

So are you going to make it? Let me know.

More winemaking, and some wine drinking

My bins of Oregon pinot noir are still fermenting in the garage, and smelling great. I love how pinot ferments smell as they get near the end. The sweet fruit smells are replaced by winey, spicy smells that can touch on roasted coffee at the very end. The viscous sweet juice is now mostly dry, with a thinner consistency that splashes with more rapidly. The foam created by fermentation has gone from purple to a whitish pink color, the bubbles much less persistent. So much of the winemaking process is apparent to the discriminate eye and nose, rather than the vulgar mouth.

Punchdowns become more gentle, still twice a day but soon just once a day to wet the weakening cap of grape skins, still pushed up by carbon dioxide but with much less authority than a few days ago. The goal now is to get savory character into the wine, augmenting rather than simply replacing the fresh fruit character. Taste the new wine daily and let it go as long as no bitterness or excessive tannin shows up. Press when the skins have nothing more to offer the wine. Based on how things are going, I'll be pressing early next week as I originally imagined.

Meanwhile, things are just past peak at the winery where I"m working. The fruit's all been in for more than a week, which is always a great milestone to reach. But the work at that point's just begun. Everything this past week has been at one stage of fermentation or another, meaning twice daily punchdowns for just about everything, more than 40 tons of grapes. And heating and cooling fermentations, pump overs to cool bins that get too hot or aerate things that stink a bit. We taste all the fermenters each day. Now we're getting into draining and pressing, meaning work setting up and cleaning the press, but earning the dividend of fewer fermentations to deal with. We need to prep barrels, fill them with wine, then clean out empty fermenters. There's so much to do, but in about a week from now things should be close to the end, and the few ferments that remain won't take nearly as much time to guide as 30 or more at once do.

Of course, we try our best to drink some wine during harvest as well. The other morning a nice guy brought a bottle of 2005 Domaine Dominique Mugneret Nuits St. Georges "Les Fleurieres" for a late breakfast. I was handed a glass blind between punchdowns and from the smell thought it might be from Oregon. Black fruit, toasty oak, not giving up much nuance. In the mouth it was another story. Brightly acidic, a bit too wood dominated but showing nice rich pinot fruit. Withe time, a beautiful floral aroma developed. Still, this needs time if it's going to integrate the wood.

The other night, a few people gathered at Bar Avignon in SE Portland to have a few bottles and eat some dinner. What a great place, and we had some nice wines as well. First, the 2005 Sine Qua Non "The Petition" white wine, a mix of chardonnay, roussane, and viognier from California. Lots of roussane on the nose, with waxy notes and well integrated oak. I expected this to be extremely oaky, but it seems nicely balanced in that regard. In the mouth, this was huge, with all 15.8% of its alcohol, a baked apple flavor of chardonnay and what I now understand as a pleasant bitterness that must be from the viognier. Long, long finish, probably too much alcohol and just a bit over the top, still this was really interesting to drink. Thanks Michael Alberty, who was right to wish that we had some lobster to eat with it.

I brought something completely different, the 1995 Domaine Trevallon from the Provence region of southern France. I hoped it would show some bottle sweetness from 13 years of age, but it was really youthful and frankly not all that generous. Yet, I hope. Lots of earthy, gravel and cassis and blackberry aromas, with a stern flavor that needs more time. I liked it, but didn't love it.

Instead, I was fascinated by another of Micheal's contributions, a 100% merlot from Italy whose name escapes me. Not knowing anything about it, I guessed cabernet franc, as it showed a pleasant gravel, cassis, and herb character not unlike some Loire wines, just with a bit more body and oomph. Technical term, that. Anybody, help with the name here. Darmiljan?

Then a few California reds, such at the 2003 Shafer Relentless, a syrah and petite syrah blend that's just too oaky for my tastes. Also, a 2004 Burrell School Pinot Noir from the Santa Cruz Mountains that was called a pinot for cab lovers. Nothing subtle here, I didn't love it but it's a good enough drink. And a grenache blend from Terry Hoague that simply showed too much alcohol for me to cozy up to. Impressive wine to taste, but not for drinking in my humble opinion. I'm always in the minority on these wines it seems, so call it more my flawed palate than any indicator of quality.

The point here -- what a good time sharing wines during harvest, enjoying some simple but delicious food, and generally just hanging out in between lengthy stints working hard in the winery and then guiding my humble home brew to a happy conclusion. One more week and...well, it won't be over, but it will be close.

More winemaking at home

Things are continuing well on the home winemaking front. When we last left off, the three bins of pinot noir were still cold soaking in the garage while I had a natural fermentation starter warming up in the house.

I spent a good bit of time warming the garage with a space heater, an aquarium heater in the bins themselves, even my warm car. Anything to get the air temp up and then the must temp to get the conditions right for fermentation.

Once the temperature was in the 60s, I poured part of the starter in the center of each bin and left it to give the natural yeast a boost in reproduction. The next morning there were signs of fermentation but nothing vigorous. There were also some acetone smells, something that drives winemakers crazy, especially those who think natural fermentation is stupid. I smell acetone in varying degrees in lots of ferments, especially at the beginning before any yeast has gotten established, whether you added it or not.

The idea is that once the ferment warms, the acetone producing yeast will die off and the smell itself will either blow off by fermentation action or be metabolized by the yeast. Not sure, honestly, what it is, but sure enough that smell is long gone now.

After another day, the ferments were really going, producing lots of carbon dioxide that pushes a "cap" of grape skins above the surface of the liquid, just as yeast in bread dough cause it to rise. I punch down the cap in the morning and at night to moderate temperature in the bins, and especially to get the skins in contact with the liquid so that the aromas and flavors continue to get into the new wine.

Here's a picture of the bins with high caps. Notice that the grapes are a few inches higher than they were during the cold soaks.


Here's a close up of one bin to get a better look. As the ferment continues, the color of the grapes turn from the dark purple / blue we saw before to something much more ruby like.


Over the last two days, the fermentations have hit a peak of up to 92F in the cap, mid to upper 80s below. Things are now down to the low 80s in the cap, upper 70s below. We're down to around 7 brix, so there's still lots of sugar to go before the new wines are dry. My goal, after pushing the temperature a bit given my small fermentation vessels, is to let things ride easy from here on out to give the wine as much time on the skins as possible. We'll see how long things can go.

Winemaking 2008

On Saturday, October 18, I got half a ton of really nice pinot noir grapes from a highly regarded local vineyard. After processing the fruit -- destemming and lightly crushing some of the berries, and adding sulfur dioxide -- the grape must has been soaking in my cold garage before fermentation starts.

First, I have the must in three Rubbermaid bins beehived to create as much of a thermal mass as possible, and still allow me to move the bins around a bit without a forklift.


The cold soak allows the grape skins to give their color and flavors to the juice early in the winemaking process. The goal is to extract as much as possible before alcohol is present, because alcohol is a solvent that will pull astringent qualities out of the seeds, skins, and any stem parts in the bins. That's going to happen to some degree, as sugar becomes alcohol during fermentation. The idea is to have any of that happen at the end of the process, rather than crushing the grapes, fermenting the juice to wine, then letting everything sit for days and days until the wine has everything from the grapes that you want. So far, there's lots of color in the juice.


After several days of this cold maceration, I took some juice and gapes from each bin into a tub and brought it into the house to make a fermentation starter. Rather than adding yeast, I warmed the starter and allowed fermentation to happen spontaneously. Already it's beginning to bubble with the temperature close to 70F.


Once I get the bins up to around 65F, I'll add this starter in part to each bin to prime the fermentation. Heating the bins means heating the garage with a space heater, rotating an aquarium heater through each bin, even parking a warm car in the garage to keep the air temp up. If I get any funky smells, such as ethyl acetate that smells like nail polish remover, I'll entertain using dried yeast to get fermentation going. So far so good, and in my experience I've never had an issue fermenting without adding yeast.

Copyright bullshit

A note from the management of Elevage to all third party content aggregators using content from this site on your site without permission.

Stop it.

That means you, "w-i-n-e-w-o-n-k-s" and any others out there. No, I'm not interested in being part of your ad driven websites. You're not finding me readers. You're generating money for yourselves.

I don't appreciate your taking content without clear attribution. I don't recall ever being asked to participate. I wouldn't agree to it anyway.

So I'm going to have to state the obvious that all content on Elevage is copyrighted by Vincent Fritzsche, any usage or reproduction of content from Elevage is prohibited without express written consent from me, Vincent Fritzsche.

Jesus Christ. Is that really necessary? How pathetic are people?

Ok, back to wine.

Home wine, day 4

My half ton of pinot noir is still soaking in the garage, hanging out around 51F. I'd like it a bit lower but then again I'd like it to start fermenting in a day or three. It smells clean and fresh. Tonight is clear and cold again, so I have the doors open to let the cold air in. I'll let it ride. Guidance without much intervention.

Talking with a winemaking friend this evening while doing a few punchdowns, I was reminded about his thoughts after the 2006 vintage, that he might have tried to get a bit more out of the grapes that year than he did. This year is more classically balanced than 2006, with better acidity and not the potential overripeness. Just the conditions to not hold back and soak the must too briefly and ferment too quickly. Instead, why not let things go three weeks if they can, to get the most out of the grapes, with better depth and complexity in the finished wine.

So I'm not going to push the start of fermentation too much. And I'll see how long I can go before pressing. Election Day is in two weeks. I thought maybe that's when pressing might happen, 17 days after harvest, though that was a rough plan, nothing exact. But why not see if we can hold on? I think the more winey wines are made from longer vatting. Early pressing preserves the fresh fruit, and while I don't want to lose all the freshness, I want wine that smells and tastes winey, not just fruity. As long as things don't show any bitterness or hard tannin, I'm on board to let things go as long as I can.

That's where things stand tonight. Meanwhile, those with fruit still hanging are looking at terrific final ripening. My favorite forecaster has tw0 70F days in the 7-day forecast, with some mid to upper 60s as well. Crazy nice weather for this time of year. It's late October after all. Lots of people have great grapes in the cellar already. Some people are going to bring in incredible stuff, provided rot hasn't set in too much. This is a nice year for Oregon pinot noir, very nice.

Winemaking at home

As I mentioned before, I got a half ton of nice pinot noir grapes two days ago, on Saturday. I destemmed and lightly crushed them at a local facility, adding a moderate dose of sulfur dioxide (SO2) to protect the juice during a few days of "cold soak" before starting fermentation.

I brought the crushed grapes, or must, home Saturday evening in three Rubbermaid Brute bins that are now in my garage. The fruit was cold, but Sunday morning I went to the grocery store and bought several pounds of dry ice at the fish counter to add to the bins to keep things chilled. I'm also keeping the garage door open before I go to bed to let the cool night air in.

Cold soaking is the process of macerating the newly crushed grapes to gently allow the color, flavors, and aromas locked in the red grape skins to soak into the wine. Think of it as you would marinating a steak. Each day the juice gets darker and more vibrant red / purple. After maybe four or five days, I'll warm the must to encourage fermenation to begin naturally.

What I'm looking for now are sweet fruit smells, rather than nail polish or vinegar smells that can reduce wine quality. That's VA, which I wrote about last time. I gently stir the bins once a day during the cold soak, and if I smell anything bad, I might spritz the surface of the must with SO2. Anything bad that persists and I'll kick off fermentation right then, as the early signs of VA are often due to cold tolerate yeast and bacteria that quickly get taken over by a vigorous fermentation. The volatile smells even get metabolized, or at least have a chance to blow off as the fermentation produces so much CO2.

Temperatures in the bins are all 49F, actually a little high. I think I'd rather see something closer to 40F to reduce any chance of VA issues right now. In the 50-65F range, bad things can grow quickly so to "kick off" fermentation, I'll look to warm the must to 65F where good yeasts can quickly grow and dominate things.

In order to do the natural fermentation, I think I'll begin to make a starter tomorrow night, much as you would with naturally fermentated bread dough. I'll take a small amount of must in a pail and bring it inside the house to allow it to get going. Once it's going nicely, I'll use it to innoculate the bins to jump start them into fermenation. It's also a nice chance to see if I might have issues with the natural yeast on these grapes, as I haven't worked with this site before (though I know at least one winery that's made wine naturally from here for years, and done very well).

Finally, the numbers. My simple hydrometer reading shows 23 brix, or 23% sugar, in the must. That's just about ideal for elegant pinot noir, provided the flavors are ripe, and they are. That will translate into an alcohol level in the low to mid 13% range, depending on the conversion of sugar into alcohol during fermentation. Someone else with some of these grapes did more specific analysis on this block of the vineyard. The results showed 23.1 brix and 3.27ph, the latter also about perfect for my goal of acid strength being around 3.3, again assuming the good flavors are there.

All told, I'm still really excited about my wine for this year. I'll write more as I finish the cold soak, go through fermenation, and eventually press the wine. If things go well, that might happen on Election Day, which is already something I'm anticipating highly.

VA

VA stands for volatile acidity, a malady in most table wines. Acetic acid is the most common volatile acid in wine. Know the smell of vinegar? That's acetic acid.

VA in pinot noir is particularly egregious, because great pinot noir is all about purity and elegant perfume. Some wines can benefit from a little VA, in particular Rhone wines. The volatility can enhance or "lift" a wine's aroma. But in pinot noir, I hate it.

The other day I noticed a 2004 Pinot Noir from a local producer in a discount store. Sometimes this store has incredible buys, and though I've never had any wines from this particular producer, I'd read some good things on the internet from a source I trust.

Beware what you read on the internet.

This wine is so riddled with VA that I simply can't, or at least won't, drink it. The only redeeming quality here is the reminder to carefully monitor my upcoming fermentation, maintain a high level of cleanliness, and be smart about sulfur dioxide. SO2 is essential to prevent VA. I'm not sure what happened with this wine, but I'm going to work hard to keep it from happening to mine.

Grapes

Finally.

After a long search and a late harvest, I got my half ton of Willamette Valley pinot noir grapes. Again this year, I can't talk about where they're from. But the quality is top drawer, grapes fit for a commercial winery, exactly what I was looking for.

Most home winemakers put up with u-pick vineyards that generally aren't farmed attentively. You can make good wine if you're picky about the source, but in my experience you more likely will end up with junky grapes that turn into junky wine that perpetuates the assumption that homemade wine isn't very good.

I learned quickly that you need the best grapes you can find, and that sourcing those grapes is paramount. With some hard work and some luck, I have some nice fruit in my garage and I'm really happy about it. Really happy.

I'll get into more specifics as we go. I'm looking at soaking the grapes for a few days, meaning I'll keep the crushed grapes and juice as cool as possible to allow color, flavor, and aroma to soak into the juice from the grape skins before fermenting the juice into wine. If all goes well, fermentation will start later next week and I'll press off the new wine in about 18 days or so. If you're interested, stay tuned.

Willamette Valley harvest

The pinot noir harvest is in full swing here in the Willamette Valley. Things are looking terrific.

After a cold spring and relatively cool summer, the quality of this year's grape crop came down to October weather. The month began with some rain and below average temperatures. The past two weeks turned mostly dry and often sunny, cooler than average but with some nice sunlit afternoons that have helped push grapes to ripeness.

I've been helping out at local wineries for the past few years. In 2005, all the grapes were in by October 12 where I was working. In 2006, only some late harvest whites came in later than mid-October. Last year, everything was in by October 14.

In 2008, grapes didn't start coming in for the most part before this past week, and that's true for most pinot noir makers all over the area. It's not often that we have a mid-October and later harvest. This weekend is probably the peak of harvest, with rain slated for Monday. Some vineyards will hang on though, needing some more days to really get ripe.

So far the fruit I've seen looks great. Nice flavors, moderate and slightly higher sugars, with bright acids that make the fruit taste a bit more tart than the sugars indicate. That's ideal stuff for great pinot noir. Plenty of ripeness, but not too much, with good acidity to give freshness and length to the wines.

For my homemade wine, things are also looking great. My grape source backed out on my last weekend suddenly. Happily, I've found another source that's more attractive and, best yet, I'm getting the fruit today. I'm ready to make some of my own wine.

2005 Daedalus Pinot Noir Willamette Valley

I simply don't have any Eyrie Vineyard wine that's ready to open. Daivd Lett made wines that demand time. I hear he was pretty demanding, too.

Instead, I picked the 2005 Daedalus Pinot Noir Willamette Valley for dinner tonight. We needed something fragrant and delicious and this fit the bill.

On its own, this garnet colored wine smelled of cherries and leafy herbs, with a bit of leather suede. With some broiled tri-tip and brown rice, the fruit came forward along with an earthy nuance that suggests the Pommard clone of pinot noir.

In the mouth, this wine is lean and acidic, and yet round and plush with a vegetal element that's again more attractive with food. There's a clear soil note, with a Pommard-like ashy quality that lingers with juicy acidity.

This is beautiful Oregon pinot noir. Not so fruit centered and gushing, perhaps more challenging and complex, truly better with dinner and very good at that. The grapes here come from some of the best vineyards in Oregon, including Seven Springs and Maresh. The quality of those sites show here.

And I'd bet a few bucks this is all or mostly Pommard. Anyone know?

David Lett dies at 69

The father of Oregon pinot noir, David Lett of the Eyrie vineyard, died Thursday night at home in Dundee. Read more here.

If you enjoy Oregon pinot noir, or Oregon wine for that matter, you owe this man some thanks and serious respect. If you work in the Oregon wine business, or if you aspire to as I do, you might even owe him your livelihood.

Richard Sommer started the HillCrest vineyard down in the Umpqua Valley back in 1961, apparently the first real planting post-prohibition. But David Lett and his wife Diana planted the Eyrie Vineyard in the Dundee Hills of Yamhill County in 1966. Their planting started the modern Willamette Valley wine industry. Without them, with David leading the way, things just wouldn't be as they are. Hundreds of wineries and thousands of acres of grapes, led by the pinot noir.

I never met David but saw him a couple of times, the last time at a restaurant in McMinnville just before the 2007 harvest began. He was on oxygen and looked frail. That, his family around him, and my rightful modesty kept me from interrupting to gush about how I owe him for even being able to dream about making wine here in Oregon.

But a part of me wishes I could have somehow communicated that without being a bother. It can't ever get old hearing praise, can it? Maybe so if you're trying to eat your lunch in peace.

So this will have to do. Thank you David Lett, for everything. I spent much of today tasting fruit in a number of local vineyards, planning for the impending harvest. What a joy.

This afternoon I found myself on a hillside outside of Yamhill in weak but still warm sunshine. I saw vineyards draped across the low hills, the canopies still mostly green, every vine in sight patiently hanging fruit, the valley below colored in soft greens and yellows of early fall. Impatient birds made most of the noise. Otherwise there was silence, just but the faint hum of cities and a truck down the road unloading picking bins.

Harvest is beginning like a swell, 42 years since the Eyrie vineyard went in the ground. The vines continue to give more each year, a metaphor for Mr. Lett, enduring.

Harvest in Oregon must be close

Still no grapes harvested where I'm working again this year. My past three years working harvest, we'd be half done or more. This is a late year, and the weather's tenuous. But judging from some hours of fermenter washing, harvest must be close. Right? From what I'm hearing, crushpads here in Oregon have never been cleaner, what with harvest crews on standby with nothing else to do as they wait for grapes.

Tomorrow some southern Oregon fruit is due in. Should be picked in the morning, on the road all afternoon, arriving at night for a late evening of processing. That'll be only a taste of what's to come, wiht this weekend and beyond packed with picks before the next expected significant rains a week from Thursday. Sure, that's pretty far out for weather forecasting. But this time of year in Oregon, it's a safe bet to say rain's on the way.

So far though things are holding up nicely. Sugars aren't high, acids are, but flavors are coming along. Vineyards have been so healthy that they should continue to stand up to the intermittant rain we're seeing. Sunny weather later this week, even with cool temps, should be nice for drying things out and finishing ripening. Vineyards that aren't ready by mid next week will likely hang through more, perhaps signficant rain. Hold on to your hats.

More Dressner wines in Oregon

I'd heard some weeks back that Triage Wines was rumored to be taking on Oregon distribution of all Louis/Dressner Selections. Looks like that was true, and judging by just one listing in the latest Liner & Elsen wine shop newsletter, Oregon wine fans should be pleased.

Triage, a Seattle-based distributor with arguably the best book of French producers in Oregon, was long constrained in the variety of Louis/Dressner selections it could represent locally. In Washington, Triage had everything in the LDM book. But the Oregon operation had to split things with at least one other distributor, the result being that some Dressner wines simply didn't make it to our local market.

Triage is apparently changing that. Take Domaine Filliatreau from the Samur-Champigny region of France's Loire valley. For a few years, I noticed I could find these wines across the border in the otherwise wine desert of Clark County, the southwest Washington region that's part of the Portland metro area and home to The Couv. That's Vancouver, WA, not BC. It's essentially the 909, or maybe the OC before it allegedly became hip. The point is, you don't have to cross the river to try to find these wines. We now have them and others right here in the friendly confines of Portland.

If you're interested, Filliatreau makes terrific and well-priced cabernet franc-based red wines. Now, these wine are available in Oregon. Liner & Elsen has the basic Samur from 2006 Filliatreau's Chateau Fouquet label featured this month for $15. I haven't found time to try this one, but judging by all of my past experiences with this producer, you won't be sorry.

Otherwise, in these value oriented times, check out the Dressner portfolio. I pulled out two not so recent purchases from the "cellar" recently and neither dissapointed. The first I knew well. The second I bought only because of the importer's label. If you see "Louis/Dressner" on the back label and you're curious, buy it.

First, the 2004 Jean Paul Brun "Terres Dorees" Beaujolais Vieilles Vignes. Forget about Beaujolais not aging. It does. But did you know that the Wine Advocate gave 90 points to the latest release of this wine, the 2007? What's next, Parker and his acolytes will praise Valtellina?

This 2004 from Brun is maturing, with a hint of orange on the rim and a gorgeous gamay fragrance of cherries and wet earth. The wine is light bodied but deceptively flavorful, with bottle sweet flavors that are akin to caramelization in cooking, fresh and mature at once, carried by tart, juicy acidity. This might not be sipping wine for most folks, but I love it. With dinner, it's almost great.

Then the 2003 Mouthes le Bihan Vieillefont from the Cotes des Duras of the Lot-et-Garonne region southeast of Bordeaux. The grapes are merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and malbec. The wine is purple ruby in color, with a berry aroma and flavor that's savory and sweet at once. I've seen reports of brett in this wine, and there might be a little activity from that "spoilage yeast" here, evident in its animal or band aid character. But this bottle was delicious, mostly clean with a nice balance of rich fruit and savory herbs, without excess tannin I find in some wines from the hot 2003 vintage. Again, for not a lot of money, this is characterful French wine that I want to drink more of. You should too.

Happier topics - Harvest is approaching

My visit to the Wahle vineyard the other day gave me a nice chance to check up on the progress of this year's pinot noir crop here in the northern Willamette Valley.

A couple weeks ago, some of the various clones in this vineyard still weren't fully through veraison, when red grapes actually gain their red/purple/black color. Spring was downright chilly and everything started slow. Summer was a bit cool, so things really never caught up. Just like Portlanders' tomatoes, the grapes have matured late this year.

September started pretty warm and dry. Then we saw some light rain, nothing to be worried about. The past week has been beautiful, with temperatures in the mid 70s to nearly 90 every day. Average this time of year is 70F, so we've been way ahead. Bear in mind that this time of year it's often nice if it's not rainy and 60F. Hence the middle of the road average.

All that warmth means the clusters in the Wahle vineyard at least have softened noticeably, with sugars rising and the grape skins giving up some rich color when pinched in your hand. Still, the flavors aren't quite there and the acids are still pretty tart. Harvest is more than a week away here.

And wouldn't you know it, after today's high clouds and mid 70s temperatures, we now expect rain and wind for a number of days. I've learned from old timers to worry less and let the fruit hang until it's ready, especially in years like this when disease pressure has been markedly low and the grape vines are still looking green and strong. Once the leaves start yellowing, even sunshine won't help too much if the leaves aren't working properly. So I'm taking advantage of the wisdom around me, the hope of more sun and dry weather next week, and the fact that I'm not making wine commercially yet. What do I have to lose?

Driving around Yamhill county, I've yet to see anyone picking. I've heard of some lower elevation sites already coming in, but pretty much everyone's going to ride out whatever mother nature has in store. After last year and 2005, when we saw some good rains yet made some tasty wines, I'm excited to see what happens.

Oregon LNG pipeline and the Wahle vineyard

Things are tense out in certain parts of Yamhill county. Drive around and you'll see plenty of "No LNG" signs. They refer to the proposed Liquefied Natural Gas pipeline slated to run from a provisionally approved LNG terminal on the Columbia river south through some key vineyard land in the heart of Oregon wine country.

Many vineyards could be impacted, depending on the route or routes chosen for the pipeline. One path would go right through Ken Wright's vineyard to be planted imminently on Withycombe Road. Another route focused on the Blackburn Road area would take out Stag Hollow's best south slope, and much of the historic Wahle vineyard. If you're interested in the land around places like Yamhill and Carlton, check out this pipeline map.

Yes, I've bought grapes from Wahle and hope to again in the future. Perhaps I have a conflict of interest here. I want to buy grapes from Wahle. So I'm sympathetic, right? But think about it. How can I buy if the majority of this vineyard might be torn out -- including the prime 35 year old Pommard block?

I don't want to see this vineyard ruined to accommodate an unnecessary conduit for natural gas from Russia, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Iran, brought around the world to heat US homes when we apparently have some of the largest sources of natural gas on the planet. I'm a gloabally focused guy. I have no personal issues with individuals in those countries. But I sure as hell don't want their governments benefiting from us tearing out some of our most prized agricultural assets here at home. Let's not even get started about alternative energy.

You see, once the pipeline goes in, there's no planting vines on top of it. Building the pipeline would apparently require a construction zone at least 45 feet wide, with some plans showing the line traversing land diagonally. That greatly increases the impact of construction, and according to Betty Wahle, there's no planting on top of the pipeline once it's in. She's facing the loss of a major portion of her vineyard, its past and future. There are many more in the area facing the same fate.

The other day, I went out to the vineyard to be there among a small group meeting Yamhill county commissioners and local press touring impacted sites and hearing from people concerned about the looming impact of the LNG project. The case was made, and the commissioners now have an opportunity to interrupt the project, as all county boards apparently have. It seems the final say will come from the governor, Ted Kulongoski. So if you're inclined, bug him about it.

And in the interest of fair and balanced reporting (someone's got to do it), read about Oregon Pipeline here. Notice they never mention where the gas comes from. And read No LNG Oregon First here. Sure, they're excited. But shouldn't they be?

Another vineyard visit

Recently I had the chance to visit an out of the way vineyard I had previously never heard of. It’s on the west slope of the Portland hills, northwest of downtown some miles out near North Plains. Twenty year old pinot noir vines, own-rooted Pommard clone, with some ten year vines as well. Volcanic soils. High elevation. Organically farmed. Healthy vines but maybe needing some TLC to show their best.

The shoots aren’t carefully positioned or tied up on the trellis wire. Some hedging would be in order. Second crop needs to be removed. This time of year, leaves should be pulled off the morning side of the grape clusters for light exposure and better air movement. Maybe on both sides, to maximize ripeness in this challenging spot. Clusters still weren’t fully colored, and harvest was weeks away. The weather’s turned warm again, but this vineyard probably still has a long way to go.

I’m technically still looking for grapes for this harvest, though I think I have a line on the vineyard I purchased from in 2006. It’s my first choice, though it’s not cheap. I’m a homebrewer who’s going after vineyards otherwise in commercial production. I don’t have priority. I went up to this vineyard thinking maybe I’d have it as a back up, and it still may be if I need it.

The real discovery though was the thought that next year, when I’m planning to make a small amount of wine commercially, I might rent a few rows at this promising, out of the way site and take care of them myself. The owner has a crew that sprays and does other work. Clearly more is needed to see what this site could produce. The raw materials are there. I’d love the opportunity to get out in the vineyard and get my hands dirty. I drove away excited about next year, about working with vines after so many years focused on the wine cellar.

Barrel buying and harvest talk

Last week I stopped by a local winery to buy a used barrel for this year’s homemade wine. For the past few years I’ve been buying five-year-old French oak barrels here for around $50 each, and I’ve been pleased with what I’m getting. That is, a well made barrel that’s been treated well and is still more than sufficient for winemaking, especially if you aren’t looking for new oak flavor in your wine.

I’ve actually found that these so-called “neutral” barrels still give a bit of wood flavor to the wine, though it may be the effects of slow oxidation in cask that I perceive as oakiness as much as oak flavor from the wood itself. Older barrels don’t give anything close to the flavor of new or one-year barrels. Yet when you smell one of these “neutral” barrels, they still have a toasty sweetness that I pick up later in the wine. Seems reasonable to think some of that really is getting into the wine. When I hear more experienced winemakers scoff at that, I wonder if they just don’t hang around new oak so much.

While waiting for one of the French harvest interns to get the barrel down to my car, I talked with the cellar master about the upcoming harvest. Apparently, this particular producer usually starts harvesting around September 19. We’re past that already, and this year things will likely wait until early in the second week in October. That two to three week delay is pretty much what I’m hearing from others in the area.

Later harvests can produce the best wines, but they’re nerve wracking. Around here, October sees the most dramatic change in temperature of any month in the year. In Portland, our average temperature is still 70F (21C) on October 1. By the end of the month, it’s in the high 50s (15C). You simply can’t count on good weather for too long in October, but that’s really what we need for an exceptional vintage.

Nevertheless, talking with this cellar master, it’s clear he’s genuinely excited for a great harvest. The vines are very healthy, the fruit clean and disease free. I’m finding this to be true almost everything here in the northern Willamette Valley. Acids are still high of course and some mild sunny weather into October should give wines with great freshness, fragrance and nerve. Just what more classically inclined producers are looking for.

Still, I can’t deny my stomach’s churning. We had a warm start to September but recently it’s been cool and a little wet. Nothing bad really. The vines could use a drink. We’re just losing time for nice ripening weather. By the end of the week, things apparently should turn sunny and warmer. Longer term forecasts, such as they are, call for rain in early October. We’ll see. As I wrote before, pay attention to the weather and you’ll know how the mood is around here.

At least this isn’t Burgundy. The intern who brought out the barrel told me about the reports of dreadful weather back home. Nevertheless, as wine people tend to be, he was excited about our upcoming harvest, and perhaps more excited about heading to the southern hemisphere for harvest 2009 this spring.

Sunday at Armstrong Vineyard

Friends Doug and Michele Ackerman planted the new Armstrong Vineyard last fall on Ribbon Ridge just off Lewis Rogers Lane. Last Sunday they hosted a barbeque that gave me a chance to check out the new planting up close.

The vineyard was planted last fall in two main blocks, the south block oriented north/south and the north block oriented east/west because of a strong slope in the northwest corner of the property. North/south rows in that area would be too precarious for the tractor.

The vines are a mix of Dijon clones, with a new area to be filled in this fall with Wadenswil, a spicy scented clone from Switzerland. The soils here are typical sediments of Ribbon Ridge, old ocean floor pushed up by tectonic movement that gives a well draining, silty medium for grapevines.

So far the vineyard seems to be the talk of Ribbon Ridge. The vines are extremely healthy, with very few of the plants having problems in this first year. I’ve heard grumblings from another grower who wonders how so few new plants have failed.

The issue with new vineyards is largely about grafting pinot noir clones onto rootstock. Bad grafts mean dying plants. The few that the Armstrong vineyard has are typical, evident by red vine leaves. But other vineyards often have lots more failed grafts, so Armstrong seems quite healthy by comparison.

The vineyard manager was at the barbeque and showed a few of us what a bad graft looks like. Young vines produce sugar through their leaves that goes down to the roots to promote strong root growth. A bad graft a few inches above the soil line prevents the sugars from getting to the roots. What you see is a bulge above the graft point, where the sugars build up when there is no where else to go, leaving the very bottom of the vine trunk thin like a toothpick. The few problem vines will be replanted this fall when the Wadensvil plants are put in the ground.

Looking ahead, the new vines will be “two-budded” this coming winter, meaning they will be pruned nearly to the ground, leaving only two buds to grow next year. Those two buds will grow into two canes next summer, neither of which will produce fruit. The goal is to pick the stronger of the two canes to become the trunk for the vines going forward. The weaker cane will be removed, the stronger bent over and tied down to a trellis wire. The following year (two years from now), buds on upper half of that that cane will provide the first crop of fruit.

At least, that’s how I understand things. Now that I think of it, Doug mentioned that they will do a “double Guyot” meaning there will be canes going in both directions from the trunk. But I’m not sure how you get one trunk and two canes from two budding. Wouldn’t you have two trunks? I’ll have to study that one. Nevertheless, the vineyard’s two years away from producing fruit, but I look at the healthy vines and imagine that many growers would push the vines to fruit next year. The Ackerman’s are playing it smart by allowing for another year to promote strong roots and uniformity in the plants.

The barbeque of course was a nice chance to catch up with lots of old friends of acquaintances. There was lots of nice wine, of course. I sampled a few things, including two things I brought. One was the 2004 Drouhin Chassagne Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche, from the 1er cru Morgeots. This was more oaky than I remember but otherwise pure and delicious. I also brought the 2000 Siduri Pinot Noir Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard from the Sonoma Coast. Nothing like California pinot noir at an Oregon vineyard. This wine was not small scaled, but it’s always more subtle compared to most other California pinot. Mature, rounded and lush, this was drinking nicely if not showing great complexity.

All in all, it was a great afternoon. The future is promising at the Armstrong vineyard. Keep an eye on this site.

Visiting Zenith Vineyard

A few weeks back I visited Tim Ramey down at the Zenith Vineyard in the Eola-Amity AVA. Zenith is the home of Tim’s Zenith wines, which are made by his partner Mark Vlossak of St. Innocent Wines, also housed in the big, gleaming winery at the center of the property.

Zenith is the renamed O’Connor vineyard, bottled for many years by St. Innocent through the 1998 vintage. That wine and the 1994 St. Innocent O’Connor were favorites of mine before I moved to Oregon, so it was a pleasure to make my first visit this site.

Driving onto the site, I saw that the vineyard is a fairly large planting in a bowl near the valley floor with mostly south and some east exposures. The elevation here is low as vineyards in this area go. As such, the soil is mostly alluvial, typically not something wine geeks prize because it’s so fertile. Grapevines produce best in poor soils that keep down vigor and crop yields. However, the results here suggest that we shouldn’t be so dogmatic about soil. Zenith is a terrific vineyard

Tim and his family bought the property several years ago and have been gradually replanting the site. From the parking lot outside the winery there’s an old chardonnay block, apparently rife with phylloxera (root lice) that is next to be torn out and replanted. Above the parking lot to the west are acres of newly planted vines, soon to come into production again. Behind the winery up the hill are numerous blocks of mostly pinot noir, with a few other things like auxerrois and tempranillo scattered throughout. See a vineyard map here.

A tall, lumbering figure, Tim met me in the large tasting room and showed me around the crush and fermentation area, the underground barrel room, and cold storage room. Then we went up to the the main hall over the barrel room, site of one or two weddings every weekend. Zenith is a rare facility making extremely serious and high quality wine, and hosting weddings. Usually the two don’t go together. We ended up in the large kitchen, well stocked for putting on weddings of course, but probably other great dinners and who knows what.

Back in the tasting room, Tim and I sampled through the Zenith label wines. The lightly sweet 2007 Pinot Gris was fine, and the 2006 Estate Pinot Noir rich and chunky, showing the warmth of the vintage. I preferred the 2006 Select Pinot Noir, with more perfume and depth. We also tried the 2006 Tempranillo, fragrant and medium bodied more like a pinot noir but finishing with some gripping tannin. Tim calls it ok for a first try. I like it a bit more than that. 2006 was the first year of Zenith labeled wine, and they’re doing a nice job already.

Then we tried a couple of St. Innocent Pinot Noir from 2006. First the St. Innocent Zenith Vineyard, which showed lots fruit and not the tannic structure I usually associate with St. Innocent pinot noir. This seemed more elegant than the Zenith Zenith. Then the St. Innocent Justice Vineyard, a nearby planting. Tim said he thought this was the best St. Innocent red he’s ever had. It’s so primary and lush, I can’t agree or disagree. It’s clearly very nice wine with the ripeness of 2006 but still great finesse and perfume. This should last a while despite its forward nature.

Tim then had to go deal with wedding issues. He was amazingly amiable (and willing to spend time with a stranger like me) despite the large production event soon to begin. Maybe he just has the temperament for holding weddings on his site.

I love this part of the Willamette Valley. With Zenith and St. Innocent here now, along with Bethel Heights, Cristom and Witness Tree, among others, you really ought to come down to the heart of the Eola Hills. Getting there from Portland can take a while though. Tim’s adamant that the Eola Hills are no further from where I live than most other northern Willamette Valley wine areas. As a bird flies, maybe. You can get here by way of Salem, or by taking 99W through Newberg and Dundee, then continuing maybe 20 more minutes south from there.

My choice, which can be quicker if you time it right, is to take the pastoral Wheatland Ferry west of Woodburn. Exit I-5 at mile 271 and head southwest to the Willamette River. The car ferry is an old school way to cross the river, allowing you to slow down for a few minutes and enjoy the water. Once on the other side, you’re very close to Zenith and its neighbors. You’ll be happier for the journey too.

Old school Rioja

I came across a well-priced bottle of 1996 Campillo Rioja Reserva, and it restored my faith and interest in traditionally styled Spanish red wine.

For the past few years, I’ve heard lots about how Spain is doing great things with red wine. People love all the inexpensive stuff from Yecla and Toro, not to mention the pricey stuff from Priorato and elsewhere. Me? I’m just not that excited.

Then something like this Campillo wine happens into my glass and I’m renewed in my passion for what made Spain great.

Apparently Campillo isn’t an old producer, like my Rioja favorites including Lopez y Heredia and CUNE. It just tastes old, in a good way. This wine is a perfect example. It’s not purple hued and smelling of new French oak. Instead it’s ruby red, youthful for 12 years old but showing a little rust.

Then the aroma. Sweet dried cherries with pepper and earth notes. The integrated wood spice is turning into a fresh dried tobacco aroma that’s classic Rioja. With air there’s great intensity and depth to the perfume. I could smell this wine all day.

In the mouth the acid is fresh and brisk, the red fruit and clean earth flavors long and taut. This is medium bodied and lacking only the palate intensity of a gran reserva. Everything else is there, and while notes I’ve seen about this wine suggest drinking it sooner than later, I think this wine will age effortlessly for another decade and probably longer. These old school wines seem to get just the right amount of oxidation young to preserve them longer than you ever think possible, all the while remaining fresh and lively.

I’m going back for more of this one. If you’re local and interested in where to find it, let me know.

Oregon harvest update

I've been thinking since last spring that this might be another 1999 vintage for the northern Willamette Valley. That was the year of the "bummer summer" where steady warmth never really set in, until September and October, where consistently warm and sunny days lifted winemakers' hearts and broke a few records.

Well 2008 isn't exactly 1999. Summer wasn't that bad. Yet we find the grapes maybe two weeks behind schedule after a cold spring, a late bloom and crop set, and an only occasionally warm summer. Portland hit 100 three times this year, which is a lot for us. We just probably had more than our usual number of days below 80.

Sure enough, September has brought warm and sunny late summer weather that's about as perfect for human beings as it is for grapes. Cool but still pleasant nights. Warm sunshine all day long. Here at home, we're even back to eating outside. The tomatoes are finally ripening. If only the kids were back in school and things would be perfect.

Wait, they are.

Looking at the seven-day forecast from Portland's more reliable tv forecaster Mark Nelsen (he's actually really good, and not just for tv), the sunshine is here for another week, perhaps longer. This coming Sunday and Monday might get back into the low 90s, which is nice this time of year because the heat only lasts for a few hours. The intense summer heat is gone. The nights cool off. You can sleep.

The old winemakers always say that September makes the vintage. This year's shaping up beautifully, though that late start to the growing season means we need good weather into October. With that, and the apparently only average sized crop out there that allows the vines to focus energy on what fruit it has, quality could be tremendous.

If you want to see how it plays out, pay attention to the weather. Rain isn't a killer, unless it's endless. For September, we'll pretty much take whatever heat we can get. Once October comes, I've learned you really just need 70 or better to finish off ripening well. Those days can be rare, though in 1999 they came regularly. We needed them in '99, and we'll probably need them this year too. I'll be watching. How about you?

1999 Shubert Syrah New Zealand

Tonight, with homemade pizza, I opened a bottle of 1999 Shubert Syrah from New Zealand. I'd seen this bottle languishing on a local store's shelf for a while. Then it hit the bargain bin and I grabbed one.

Reading through the Auswine forum, which is a great resource for all things down under, I learned that this producer is well regarded for pinot noir as well as syrah. Tasting this wine, it feels like a pinot producer's syrah. All fragrance and texture, without the meat or structure you might expect from the northern Rhone's signature grape.

This Shubert wine is sourced from three different regions, Gimblett Road, Hawkes Bay and Martinborough. It's dark crimson in color with a hint of maturity. The aroma reminds me of filling a new French oak barrel with wine, which isn't a subtle fragrance but can be extremely pleasing.

Time has allowed the barrel aromas to meld with pie cherry fruit and toasty, earthy notes. From the smell, I might expect this to be extremely wooden and tannic in the mouth. Instead, this has pinot's silky texture with fine but unobstrusive tannin.

Cornas this isn't. But fragrant, silky new world syrah this is, accented but not overwhelmed by its barrel ageing. There's no need to hold this wine furthe. But at nearly ten years old it's delicious and a testament to what New Zealand can produce, beyond the usual sauvignon blanc, Bordeaux blend reds and pinot noir.

Wine labels and wine

I feel so excited as I near the end of the label design process for my homemade wine. I wish I could share an image of where we've gotten to so far, but I'm going to wait until it's just right.

Doing a label is a tedious process for me. Honestly, I hate most wine labels. OK, I'll be reasonable. I dislike most of them. To the point where I don't even notice them really.

The few I do find interesting are usually the most old school of things, totally not commercially acceptable I'm sure. Marc Olliver's red wine from the Loire Valley, for example. Of course, I can't find an image online anywhere and I'm too lazy to take a picture of it. Nevermind. I heard he's changed the label. It probably didn't help sales.

Really, I want something old school France, but without all the text the French require for AOC and other purposes. So I'm going with something very simple, classic but still unique. I'm hopeful for that, anyway. Stay tuned.

For inspiration, I opened a bottle of 2002 Vincent (love that name) Prunier Auxey-Duresses, from a less exalted town on the Beaune side of the Burgundy's Cote d'Or.

First, I like the simplicity of the label and the classic script font. Hint, hint.

Second, this was really nice, little wine. It had a beautiful cherry and mushroom aroma, showing some maturity. The flavor was brightly acidic with clean cherry fruit and earth notes and great subtlety.

What pretty wine, not a powerhouse or blockbuster, rather fragrant and silky and not unlike some more Burgundian wines from here in Oregon. The main difference was the acidic spine that we rarely get, naturally anyway. The acid probably scares people away, but I like it.

My 2006 pinot noir doesn't taste anything like this. Not that it should. I'm making Oregon wine.

But my 2007 is much more bright and, yes, acidic. I'm a little scared of it myself, but a good friend in the wine business tried it and was very reassuring. He likes what I'll call the nerve in this wine.

That 2007 is still in barrel, hopefully adding some flesh to its prominent bones. We'll see where it ends up. I do know this. It's going to have a label with similar nerve.

Wine Therapy: End of an era

Internet wine discussion lost a favorite site this week with the demise of Wine Therapy.

With its founder Robert Callahan unable to maintain the site after struggling with illness for a number of years, the decision came down early this week to shut the site down.

Callahan is infamous in some internet wine circles for his feud with the well known critic Robert Parker. Without recounting old flame wars from the 1990s, the story apparently goes that Parker responded to Callahan's contentious internet persona by challenging him to a blind wine tasting. The goal was to see if Callahan would identify wines he championed as superior to other wines he criticized mercilessly. The night apparently didn't go in Callahan's favor.

I wasn't around the wine internet then. I knew Callahan as a champion of natural, artisan wines from less commercialized regions. I may not have always liked his biting sarcasm (maybe I was jealous), but his passion for wines I've come to love was truly an inspiration for me in my wine education. It was Callahan who turned me on to wines like Baudry's Chinon and Texier's Rhones.

Let's not forget that Robert was the object of anticipation in Chris Coad's legendary "Waiting for Callahan" post.

The end of Wine Therapy was not swift. Albanian spammers wiped out the database months ago, so much good wine information lost because of poor security and an outmoded bulletin board platform. Lately there were as many posts about erectile enhancement products as wine. [editorial note: my apologies to the Albanian community and all Albanian sympathizers, among which I include myself, for suggesting that actual Albanians were the source of Wine Therapy spam issues. I'm tempted to put "Albanian" in "quotes" to signify the wrong that was done to them by spammers posing as Albanians. Who would do such a thing? However, it's been clarified in the comments below that precisely "little of the spam had anything to do with Albania." Of course, that means Albanians apparently were involved in some way. So the post remains unedited.]

Now Callahan's Wine Therapy, the nurturing service of the oft misunderstood enemyvessel.com, is gone. Another site has emerged as a haven for many patients of Wine Therapy, but it seems things have changed. The mold is broken. There's no chance to replicate the old site, if that were even desirable.

I'm partly wistful at the loss, but partly glad for the nudge to move on. I tried a few times to register for the new site, but either there are technical issues or this isn't a club that will have me as a member. It's just as well. I keep telling myself I should focus more on this site and less on wine discussion groups. Thanks for everything Callahan.

Oregon Vineyard Maps: Eola-Amity Hills AVA

The Eola-Amity Hills AVA map shows an area due south of the Dundee Hills stretching all the way to Oregon's capital city, Salem. The AVA is really two distinct areas, the Eola Hills in the central and south, and the Amity Hills in the north. The dominant soil type here is volcanic, specifically the Nekia, which is similar to the red Jory soils of the Dundee Hills. The distinction is that, where Jory soils are up to twenty feet of red clay eroded from the basalt bedrock, Nekia soils feature but a few feet of soil before you hit bedrock.

The two areas were combined when the Eola Hills winery apparently objected to an AVA with their exact name, which would have forced them to use grapes only from the AVA for anything they bottled under the Eola Hills name. Seems reasonable, mostly. An AVA doesn't mean much if there's a winery that uses the exact name but gets grapes from elsewhere. Nevermind that Eola Hills winery isn't actually in the Eola Hills, rather down in Rickreall to the southwest on OR Highway 99W.

So we have the Eola-Amity Hills conjoined AVA. The Amity Hills to the north are a distinct east-west range with some nice, rocky south facing exposures. Myron Redford's Amity Vineyard is perhaps the most historic in the area. Antica Terra is a nice, again rocky site. To the east is the large Willakia planting from Premier Pacific, another investment of the California State workers' pension. To the east, there are a number of other independent vineyards, among them the Jesse James Vineyard that's now a single vineyard bottling from Bethel Heights.

Below Amity Road, the Eola Hills begin. The range is largely north-south, with lots of eastern and southern exposures. South facing sites are obviously attractive for catching maximum sunlight. Eastern exposures are attractive for getting morning light that wakes up the vines early but avoids some of the most intense rays of mid- to late afternoon. Western exposures are notable in the Eola-Amity Hills for their direct exposure to the winds coming through the Van Duzer Corridor to the west. That gap in the Coast Range to the west brings in cool air from the Pacific Ocean that complicates ripening. Aside from west-facing sites that have some wind protection, you tend to see mostly southern and eastern facing vineyards in this AVA.

From the north, we see the aptly named Eola Hills vineyard. Also, there's Elton, known best for its bottling from Ken Wright Cellars. Moving to the south, we find the Jerusalem Hill vineyard bottled by Cristom. Then Seven Springs, perhaps my favorite in the state, once bottled by a number of great producers, now a monopole of sorts of a high dollar California concern.

Moving further south, we come to the heart of the Eola Hills, a broad opening to the south that's the most densely planted area in the AVA. There's Witness Tree and Cristom to the east, Temperance Hills high up to the west, Bethel Heights below it along with their Justice Vineyard, and the old O'Connor Vineyard that's been renamed Zenith by its latest owner Tim Ramey. More on that site, where I visited recently, in an upcoming post.

To the southwest, we find a variety of sites including Cherry Hill, Holloran's La Chenaie, the large Eola Springs Vineyard, and other notable sites such as Carter Vineyard, Canary Hill, and Cubanisimo. I'm sure there are sites not included on this map -- I'm not familiar with every one by any means. However, one notable omission is the Chemeketa Eola Viticultural Center's test vineyard at the very south of the AVA, off Doaks Ferry Road. This site is home vineyard of Chemeketa Community College's viticulture and winemaking program, run by Oregon wine veterans of Barney Watson and Al MacDonald.

Finally, to the southeast, we come to the outskirts of the city of Salem. There's Redhawk vineyard, a fine site, but really the jewel here is Evesham Wood's Le Puits Sec vineyard. This small east-facing site is the estate vineyard of inarguably my favorite Pinot Noir producer in Oregon. Proprietors Russ and Mary Raney are absolutely delightful people making elegant wine that are all about finesse. The vineyard itself, however lovely, doesn't quite suggest the beauty of the wines it gives. Check these out if you can find them.

Oregon Vineyard Maps: Yamhill-Carlton District

Looking at the Yamhill-Carlton District AVA map, you see it's a horseshoe shape with western, northern, and eastern flanks. Most if not all of this AVA shows the typical rounded hills of sedimentary soils, unlike the steeper volcanic slopes of places like the Dundee Hills, much of the Chehalem Mountains, and Eola-Amity Hills.

The soils are important at least because of what they lend to their wines. I find that the sedimentary soils give a darker fruit character to the Pinot Noir, as opposed to the red fruit that seems to predominate in the wines from volcanic soils. That's conventional wisdom to some, but heresy to others, including many experienced winemakers, who suggest that red and black fruit flavors reflect degrees of ripeness in wine grapes. Less ripe tending to the red, more ripe to the black. The issues isn't settled, that's for sure.

The Yamhill-Carlton District is elevation-based, so that the AVA begins at the 200 foot elevation rising to 1000 feet. The rationale is that the particular soil types in the AVA are distinguished from the fertile valley bottom soils that are not ideal for growing high quality vinifera grapes. Learn more about the AVA here.

From the western flank, which is just north of the McMinnville AVA, we first find a scattering of coast range vineyards. Are these actually volcanic soils? I'll have to find out. Moving north, we find the large Gran Moraine vineyard of Premier Pacific Vineyards, famous (or infamous) for being an investment of pension money from state workers in California. This is an interesting site, due west of the town of Carlton and immediately next to the well regarded Resonance Vineyard.

To the north, we find another wide scattering of planted sites, some with familiar names, others obscure. Lazy River makes its wine (and I believe is a partner in) the Carlton Winemakers Studio. Elk Cove's Mount Richmond Vineyard has long produced a single vineyard bottling. The Estate Vineyard of Elk Cove is further north, along with the long planted but not always highest quality Kramer Vineyard. To the northeast, notice ADEA, with a small vineyard at low elevation right off Route 47. Also, Elvenglade, perhaps one of the more interesting sites for Pinot Gris. Outside the AVA to the north are the well regarded Patton Valley Vineyards and the isolated but beautiful Cancilla Vineyards of Ken Cancilla, an old acquaintance who's making good wine.

Then to the eastern flank of the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. From north to south, the first cluster of sites contains the Beacon Hill Vineyard, a longtime but now former source for Soter, then the patchwork of parcels of Willakenzie Estate, whose name comes from the soil series of ocean sediments this region is known for.

Moving south, there's the Deux Vert Vineyard, notable for some unusual grapes for this area, including syrah. I'm guessing this is a warm microclimate. Then the large Yamhela Vineyard, and to the southeast the very well known Shea Vineyard. You can see that Shea is actually two distinct parcels, which are further broken into numbered blocks that go to specific producers. In Burgundy, Shea might be an entire appellation. Here, it's all one site. But there are some big differences in the blocks. Check out more detail here.

Moving back to the southwest toward the town of Carlton, we find a northwest to southeast ridge with some of the most attractive sites in the whole AVA. Near the town of Yamhill, there's the Blackburn Road corridor, with the long planted Wahle Vineyard, where I got grapes for my homemade wine in 2006. Also, Stag Hollow and at the east end of the road, Ken Wright's estate Savoya Vineyard. This is a nice neighborhood for Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir. To the south, there's the beautiful slope of Belle Pente and a few sites of Lemelson, anchored by the Stermer Vineyard.

Finally, due west of the Dundee Hills AVA, there are sites like Mineral Springs -- Soter's new estate vineyard -- Abbott's Claim, Bayliss, Monks Gate, all the way down to the Anne Amie Estate Vineyard almost on the border of the town of Lafayette.

Next, the Eola-Amity Hills.

Oregon vineyard maps, part 3.2: Ribbon Ridge

Last time, I detailed a bit about the large Chehalem Mountains AVA. I also wrote about how the small Ribbon Ridge AVA is included on the Chehalem Mountains map. So let's look at Ribbon Ridge more closely.

Looking at the Chehalem Mountains AVA map, you might wonder why Ribbon Ridge is a separate AVA. The federal ruling that established Ribbon Ridge as its own AVA can tell you more about that than I can. In short, its sedimentary soils are geologically different from the more volcanic Chehalem Mountains. Also, dramatic topography separates Ribbon Ridge from the Yamhill-Carlton district to the west, though the soils are more similar between those two AVAs.

Ribbon Ridge is described as an "island" on the AVA ruling document, and looking closely on this map you can see that. From Ayers Creek to the north and Dopp Creek to the east, then down to the Chehalem Creek to the west and south, Ribbon Ridge really does stand out. The effect is to create a bit of a rain and wind shadow (if that's a term) that allows the region to be a bit warmer, drier and less foggy than some surrounding areas.

The paved entrance to the AVA from the south is Lewis Rogers Lane, not marked on the map but running north from North Valley Road between Dopp Road to the east and the gravel and dirt Ribbon Ridge Road to the west. The map shows Armstrong Vineyard on the right but doesn't show the newly planted Ackerman Vineyard just to the north.

Further up, the road bends left at Ayers Vineyard, then right at Brick House, one of the most recognized names in this area. Also in this area is the Ribbon Ridge Estate vineyard of Aramenta Cellars and their Looney Vineyard, leased to Archery Summit in the Dundee Hills.

A bit further on, Lewis Rogers Lane intersects with Ribbon Ridge Road, which climbs higher into the AVA. There's the new Trisaetum Vineyard on the left, then Redman and Styring before you reach Chehalem winery's well known Ridgecrest Vineyard.

The far west end of Ribbon Ridge isn't accessible up this way, but has some highly regarded sites. From North Valley Road, there's Patty Green's Estate vineyard, the old Autumn Wind property. Also you find The Beaux Freres Vineyard, Whistling Ridge Vineyard, The Upper Terrace of Beaux Freres, and something I didn't know about until seeing this map -- Bryce Vineyard, no doubt from the late, great Bryce Bagnall who's eponymous label carries on without him.

Next time, the Yamhill-Carlton district.

Oregon vineyard maps, part 3: Chehalem Mountains

After the Dundee Hills and McMinnville AVAs, let’s turn our attentions to Chehalem Mountains. Find a copy of the Chehalem Mountains AVA map from the Oregon Wine Board and The Map Store here.

When you look over this large area, a few things become clear. First, there are two American Viticultural Areas detailed here, Chehalem Mountains and Ribbon Ridge. Second, Chehalem Mountains is a sprawling AVA with three or four subregions and varying soil types of volcanic and sedimentary orgin. Third, Ribbon Ridge is the distinct north/south flank tucked into the western edge of the Chehalem Mountains.

The Chehalem Mountains AVA begins in the south with Parrett Mountain, an old basalt pile with some of the rockiest vineyards in all of the northern Willamette Valley. Previously I wrote about the diversity of the Le Cadeau Vineyard. I’m also a fan of McKinlay wine, so check out the two pieces of McKinlay vineyard as well as the Ladd Hill Vineyard also bottled by that producer.

Other vineyards that catch my eye are J.K. Carriere, the very high quality label produced by Jim Prosser, and Carabella vineyard, a label I’ve never tried but one I notice more and more I notice in others’ bottlings, such as Dedaleus. Before seeing this map, I didn’t know that Lemelson, over in the Yamhill-Carlton district, has the Chestnut Hill Vineyard here.

Moving north, the next subregion is, for lack of a better term, the Oregon Highway 99W corridor. In here I’ll place Chehalem winery’s Corral Creek vineyard, Rex Hill, the newer Nicholas vineyard, and the vastly increased plantings of the Pamplin Family / Anne Amie on Bell Road that aren’t exactly shown completely on this map. From the Pamplin Family Winery and the more established Marylin Vineyard, newer plantings that seem to be labeled as Justin Grant and Louise (not to be confused with Cristom’s Louise vineyard) actually wrap all around from Marylin.

If you take the Bell Road short cut from 99W over to North Valley Road, in this area you’ll see my favorite unplanted site. It’s the top of the hill above Bell Road where the road wraps around, directly above where August Cellars Vyd is printed on the map. (You have to love those topo lines on these maps.) Currently it all looks like hay, but someday perhaps it will be vines. What an exposure.

Now to the west, along North Valley Road to the next subregion, the southern flank of the Chehalem Mountains proper. First, at Springbrook Road there’s a vineyard I’ve long observed without knowing whose it was. Until now. It’s the Ellis Vineyard of Adelsheim, I think half pinot noir and half I’m guessing chardonnay. Then the tiny Le Privé vineyard and the notably steep Medici vineyard. You can see it from Newberg; it runs high up a direct south slope. Beautiful, but probably tough farming.

Then along North Valley Road (watch your speed, even if it’s straight). There’s a bench at the base of the steeper mountain slope with well known sites such as Rex Hill’s Jacob-Hart, various Adelsheim sites, Vidon, and further along, Adelsheim’s home vineyard, Bergstrom’s de Lancellotti, and, naturally, the respected Chehalem Mountain Vineyard.

The rest of Chehalem Mountains is the more remote northern area, truly the most sprawling. From the east, there are sites made notable by Siduri wines in Santa Rosa, CA. Siduri’s made Oregon wine down south for more than a decade, these days mostly from Aubre Vert (misnamed “Arbre Vert” here), Hawks View, Shaw Mountain (not shown, but also off Edy Road), and more recently Beran Vineyard to the northwest.

The rest of that northern area of the AVA is sporadically planted, with some small Ponzi vineyards, Gypsy Dancer from the former owners of Archery Summit in the Dundee Hills, and a few others I honestly have never heard of. Beyond the AVA boundaries to the northeast, you’ll also notice a few sites from Cooper Mountain Vineyards, and the original Ponzi Estate Vineyard, just outside of Beaverton.

Next time, a closer look at Ribbon Ridge.

Oregon vineyard maps, part two: McMinnville

A number of readers contacted me after my last post about the Dundee Hills vineyard map. Looks like I'm not the only map geek out there, which is good.

Hannelore Buckenmeyer of the Oregon Wine Board saw the post and filled me in on some details about the map project. Buckenmeyer wrote to tell me that the OWB "partnered with The Map Store to produce these AVA maps."

Buckenmeyer responded to the fact that some vineyards, including older, prominent plantings, are missing from the maps. She wrote, "The OWB conducted meetings and workshops, sent out email and direct mail, and worked with regional winery organizations to encourage participation. However, as you noted, some people either didn't hear about the project or decided not to participate."

Interesting. I'm inclined to contact at least a few of these vineyards and get them on board. Is there a cost to participate? Are there other concerns that kept a few owners from participating? Perhaps, but I can't help thinking that so many vineyards participated that those few who didn't are really the ones missing out.

Jordan Thomas, who wrote to say that she worked on the production of these maps, echoed something I heard from Buckenmeyer. Thomas wrote that these maps are "a work in progress," and that they'll be updated on an annual basis.

Perhaps best of all, Thomas provided a link to a Google Earth-based application where you can see The Map Store's "entire database of vineyard and winery information in 3D." Check it out here.

Special thanks to Buckenmeyer and the OWB for providing me some samples of the maps. They are gorgeous, very informative, and worth framing. I have no financial interest here, but if you like Oregon wine and like maps, buy these maps.

With that in mind, a few words about the McMinnville AVA map. This emerging district has fewer sites planted than any other local AVA, all to the southwest of the town that gives the district its name.

Vineyards in this district are exclusively on the largely volcanic soils of the foothills of the coast range. The hills run southwest to northeast, with lots of south, west and east exposures. The key issue here for viticulture are the winds from the Van Duzer corridor to the west, a low gap through the coast range that allows cool winds to blow. That and some moderate to high elevation make for a cool growing climate, more beneficial in warmer years. With their usually high acids, wines from this district never lack color. The pinot noir wines here often have beautiful aromas if not always the fleshiest of textures, which is ideal for those who like a bit more structure in their wines.

Despite its relatively small size, there are a few exceptional vineyards in the McMinnville district. Meredith Mitchell was planted in 1988 on own-rooted Pommard clone and is bottled by a number of high quality producers. Momtazi is a large (and growing) planting of the Maysara winery and is bottled by many other producers. Hyland vineyard, one of the oldest plantings in Oregon, was recently sold to the Northwest Wine Co. led by Laurent Montalieu. I'm not sure if these grapes will continue to go to old clients, but I hope so. Hyland particularly has some prized old riesling vines.

If you're want this and other maps, here's the link to Sonoma-based The Map Store's Oregon AVA Maps page. I'll write more about the other AVAs in the coming days.

Oregon vineyard maps, part one: Dundee Hills

I'm crazy for maps. I get it from my dad, who showed me at an early age how to read road maps on family car trips.

My passion (perhaps fetish) comes in handy with my interest in wine. Many wine lovers enjoy looking at maps of their favorite regions. The bible of this pursuit has long been Johnson's - and now Robinson's - World Atlas of Wine. If you like wine and maps and you don't have this book, get it.

However, as great as that book is, beyond Burgundy and a few other selected areas, you simply don't get much in the way of vineyard definition in the maps. Rather, you get regional distinction of where one general town or even sub-region of an appellation lies in relation to another. Chianti Ruffina is here, Chianti Colli-Sensi is there, and hey, I can see some specific and usually accurate locations of some of my favorite producers. That's cool, but not enough.

Things are particularly difficult when you try to see maps of the AVAs and individual vineyards of, say, Oregon, up close and personal as it were.

Well those days are over. After much searching, I've found online maps of Oregon vineyards by AVA that are among the best I've ever seen.

Fans of Oregon wine have long known about the vineyard map of Yamhill County, which is pretty cool if out of date. Same too with the old Eola Hills map I've linked to on this site for a while. There's a new one that's better, but still limited.

Then there are the maps at The Map Store. I haven't even searched through the whole site. I imagine there are terrific things from other locales. I'm simply too focused on Oregon, so far.

Case in point, the Dundee Hills. The AVA, or appellation, where it all started for Oregon pinot noir. Check out the free Dundee Hills map (you'll need adobe acrobat to view it). It's not a big map, but you can zoom in for terrific detail.

There's the elusive Thomas vineyard in the northwest corner of the boundary. And the Anderson Family vineyard in the northeast. Or the Oracle vineyard that I believe is fully owned by Westry.

No map is perfect, and there are glaring errors or omissions that do make purchasing larger copies of these maps a bit questionable. Where's Abbey Ridge? It should be just south of Oracle. Not there. Where's Maresh? Between Knudsen and Arcus. But again, not on this map.

It's strange, I admit. These maps are so good, yet have a few glaring, GLARING, errors. Nevertheless, with the topo lines and the otherwise fantastic detail, these maps are terrific resources for Oregon wine geeks.

In the near future, I'll post on the other AVAs covered by the Map Store. Even with the flaws, the maps are worthwhile. Let me know if you find any issues that I haven't seen or mentioned here.

Terrific Spanish Bubbly

Just a quick note to say that the NV Segura Viudas Brut Reserva Heredad is indeed terrific Cava, or Spanish sparkling wine.

You may recognize the name Segura Viudas from their ubiquitous budget brut that I wrote about a few months ago. At least I think I wrote about it. Where's that post? Anyway, that wine is usually $8 or less and is a nice buy in cheap bubbly. It's a definite step up to its parent company's Frexinet bottlings.

The Brut Reserva Heredad is the fanciest bottling, and it comes in a peculiar bottle.


Yes, that's pewter around the bottom and stuck on the middle. Not exactly eco-friendly disposable packaging. How am I supposed to recycle this?

According to marketing literature I see online, the pewter keeps the wine chilled. I don't think so, and judging by the "hand blown" bottle claim (then why's there a seam in the glass?), I wouldn't exactly trust what I read from the producer.

But it's in the glass that counts, right? And this wine delivers. It has a pale greenish gold color, with a fragrant aroma of green apples, biscuits and mushrooms. The flavors are at once rich and lean, with nice length and lots of detail amid the somewhat loud flavor profile. Can I wine be obvious and subtle at once?

The grapes here are macabeo and parellada, which normally give a very fruit-driven wine. Here, better source material and perhaps some bottle age really do lend a more Champagne-like sense to the wine. Very nice stuff, and a good value around $20 if you can get around the pewter.