We may have a three to five day sun stretch starting Wednesday. We’ll see. I plan on hitting some triggers on 10/6.
What a great community we have!
Todd,
Hope you are correct. Wasn’t a fan of this: SO BRIEF DRY AND
MILD WEATHER…THEN RIDGE FLATTENS WITH RETURN OF CLOUDS AND THREAT
OF RAIN/SHOWERS AGAIN NEXT SAT. WITH SO MUCH ENERGY OVER THE N PAC
IT SEEMS REASONABLE IN BUYING THE MORE ZONAL FLOW…GIVING MORE
CONFIDENCE IN ONLY A DRY THU AND FRI THEN INCREASING PRECIPITATION
THREAT.
Adam Lee
Siduri Wines
Looks like the Willamette Valley has had 2 to 6 inches of rain in the last week…I hope all of you Oregon grower fare well despite the rain…
Sample clusters collected at 4 different vineyards reveal fruit in amazingly solid shape. Tight, hard, not bloated, no more sign of botrytis than before the typhoon started. Given the insanity of this weather system this is not only encouraging but quite shocking. There is reason for optimism I think. We just need a return to a normal pattern of weather for this time of year.
I helped process someone else’s fruit today, from vineyards down by Dundee Hills, and it was a mixed bag. Half the bins had some really nice clusters in them, clean and with very little rot. The other half was full of moldy and damaged berries, acetic-smelling clusters, and bird damage. Up in Gaston, after some sampling, we saw brix actually drop by almost a full degree. Some botrytis is creeping in but the spray program this year was fairly pro-active and I think the damage will be minimized.
Thanks all. Fascinating. We appreciate your hard work and the great wines you consistently craft from adverse conditions!
We have about a hundred tons in and I’m seriously hating this weather - that comes from a native Oregonian, geesh. Took advantage of the rain and went fishing in Tillamook bay, woo hoo got a 40 pound king salmon. Playtime over, we get to it tomorrow
Last look they took away our heat and dry for the weekend. Either way, I have faith in our winemakers and growers skills, and expect we will do what we do best - bob and weave and create some pretty wines
Best to you all !
L
Assuming the weather nerds are correct, and that’s no small leap of faith, looks like a possible window coming up:
Thursday Partly sunny, with a high near 61. Light and variable wind.
Thursday Night Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 37.
Friday Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 66.
Friday Night Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 39.
Saturday Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 66.
Saturday Night A chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46.
RT
I wish I could trade weather with you all for a week or so. It’s been 82 degrees and sunny every day here for several weeks and will be this week too. We need a good soaking rain here.
Everybody picking and crushing?
RT
BHC starts Sunday the 6th. Three vineyards, and the grigio hangs another week after that.
Started on the Estate (other than 1/2 ton we picked a couple weeks back) today. More tomorrow. A couple of Chehalem Mountain sites Saturday. Finish off the Estate and Freedom Hill next week.
We’ve pressed out almost 2/3rds of the first go round of grapes so it is sort of like having one very small harvest followed by one sort of small harvest.
Exactly. At the SE Wine Collective we’ve had fruit in for weeks, and lots more to come. It’s one drawn out harvest but some good weather is on tap. We’ll see how things go.
Vincent
We brought in the first bit about a week ago. It was a section that had the most potential in some ways (tiny seedless berries, ripest flavors) but then went south the quickest with the rain (tiny berries busted, birds came, fruit flies came, acetic and kloeckera numbers off the charts). The stuff that was less ripe, and set “better” - has had far fewer issues…amazingly few given the weather…and we brought in the first load yesterday which looked and tasted great. Another load on Saturday…and then let some hang until it doesn’t make sense any more.
Adam Lee
Siduri Wines
What were the brix of the grapes coming in from the different vineyards around the valley? I’m especially curious if you noticed a change in the grapes harvested before the heavy rains and after the rain. Thanks for sharing. Inquiring minds want to know!
Any more updates? 2 weeks since the last. That worries me.
As of today the four vineyards I make PN with are in. There’s bird and insect damage, so for the first time since 2004 I have destemmed all of the fruit. Very few clusters were entirely intact, yet disease free. The fruit is quite nice, but there’s not much of it. Loads of concentration and color which I did not expect given the recent weather.
Best vintage ever, no. Worst vintage ever, no. Right now it reminds me of 05.
As a data point, I drove past Elk Cove yesterday they’re still hanging their Gris. We picked last week at KV. Yesterday I received some Pinot Noir and it was in relatively good condition. Some botrytis and of course a bit of bird too, but none of the gross acetic grapes that have marked several of that vineyards bins over this harvest.
PG in Friday.