Pressed, Settled, & Racked Wine this Week from First Pick; Should Be Done by Thanksgiving

Beautiful, spicy fruit aromas and flavors; nice, well-developed tannins; juicy, pre-ML acids; and dark, dark color - without saignée, concentrator, or sugar additions!

The makings of another great, unadulterated Oregon Pinot vintage.

Nov. 2, Final Day of Our 2011 Harvest

Rainwater from 2 days earlier, fog, and seven hours below freezing last night => 1/4 - 1/2" of ice on the picking bins. Mother Nature's providing the chilling for this year's cold soak.

Despite another anxiety-filled season, we feel fortunate.  Our fruit is excellent (great, ripe flavors; good sugar and acid levels; minimum rot; no bird damage) and good yields.  And, by the end of the season, the two customers (2 of the 3 largest Oregon wineries) who refused to pay for their grapes last year finally did so - sometimes the small guys do win!

Looks like a season when attention to post-bloom vineyard work determined the quality of the grapes;  a vintage when selective wine buying will pay off.  Many wineries adding sugar this year as their fruit failed to ripen to acceptable brix levels.  Moderate amounts of rot also, due to large, tight clusters and the timing of at least 2 two weeks of perfect botrytis-inducing weather at the beginning of October.  Lot's of birds again, too.

La Niña conditions building in the Pacific...2012,deja vu all over again?

Mini Icicles & Frost on Grapes This Morning, Harvest-Ending Rains Forecasted

Five hours at or below freezing last night along with  rain-soaked vines & fog led to moderate frost and ice on the remaining fruit this morning.  We're looking to get our last pick done tomorrow before the rain starts in earnest, 4" forecast for the next two weeks.

Chilly, but beautiful, clear and sunny day today.