Nearly all of the 2009’s I tasted had a resinous ripe quality that convinced me to buy very few…almost none.
That said, Jim Anderson has a surprisingly good touch with ripe vintages. He might even claim that 2003, 2006, and 2009 were among his best.
RT
I enjoyed a bottle of 2006 Patricia Green Old Vine Estate Pinot Noir a few weeks ago. It was great and it could probably go another 5 - 10 years or more.
Back on thread topic, I received a note from Elk Cove last weekend and they mentioned the cooler weather and rain this summer in Oregon.
James
Picking date also depends on flower/bloom/fruit set dates. If it was a later fruit set, that would push harvest dates out, even in a very hot year.
Yes, that’s the gist of my pick dates as well.
In 2009, we had a bit later bloom and quite a bit of heat in early September that faded towards the end of the month. Cooler sites like Whistling Ridge, and I didn’t thin in 09, were able to hang until early October helping with flavors. While I will pull the trigger earlier if the fruit is ready these days-time on the vine does matter.
For me, I split the difference in 09. With Whistling Ridge, the 09s are beginning to come out of the shell(10 years is pretty typical) and the Souris and Whistling Ridge are showing well. The Winter’s Hill bottling is solid but with a rather robust abv. Not my thing.
Lol…
Among my favorite stories from my career. I went to sample Momtazi that fall, walked through pulled my clusters and headed back to the winery. Crushed the bag and saw 21.8 brix and pH 3.1. No hurry.
Next day Todd calls me and says I need to pick the block…needless to say, I was annoyed. He was pretty sure. So I told him I would drive out and sample again. I fumed out to Momtazi, walked the block and called Todd to see if he could pick it the next day…that was 2006.
We picked Bishop Creek in 2006 in 4 days. Day 1: Pinot Noir 23.5 Brix
Day 2: Pinot Noir 25.5 Brix
Day 3: Pinot Noir 27.0 Brix
Day 4: Pinot Gris-don’t ask don’t tell
So while Todd is often the last guy out, he is also an appropriate picker.
Of course the fun at Momtazi was just beginning. Todd agreed to pick my block the next day. My crew was ready to go, and we cleaned and prepped waiting for fruit. Then we had lunch, and we cleaned some more, played basketball a bit, and generally messed around. Then we had dinner, and played “guess which ditch our fruit is in?”. At 9:15pm the truck showed up. We unloaded and processed. Fruit was 88-92F and bubbling with fermentation as is went across the sorting table.
I fumed all night, and called Todd the next day to bitch. He in his efficient manner told me that had had 30+ tons to pick and 8 guys showed up. As we were talking, he had 40 more to pick and 3 guys that morning.
Shit show of a vintage. But perhaps the most important learning experience of my career.
Both Todd and I were done with Momtazi the next year. No disrespect to Moe Momtazi or the vineyard. Labor has continued to be a challenge over the years and crews for picking have been a huge issue for many, particularly in 2013. I was very aware that my production was too small for them to be a focus. I shifted to smaller vineyards where a small crew can get my fruit picked. Temperance Hill is an exception but they have their own full time crew for picks.
I also started to view canopy strength as something to be managed, rather than encouraged. 2006 had very large clusters, and a good set. But we still moved more than 1 full Brix per day. That pace is well beyond the pace of flavor development, and water adds aren’t a long term solution. We took Bishop Creek to no tilling, and later expanded that to all of the sites that I work with. I also started experimenting with a higher level of leaf pulling and doing it earlier. The results have been excellent(IMO), we pick at lower Brix with good flavor development, better tannin quality, and a better maturity of acidity. 2017 Whistling Ridge Pinots range from 12.8% abv to 13.2%, and flavors are very old school. At IPNC this year I was really disappointed with the plethora of purple dense Pinot Noirs. Were they impressive? Yes. Were they interesting? Not to me.
The only down side is that, with the early nitrogen competition, the plants don’t look as vibrantly healthy(good thing Whistling Ridge is only visible to Jim Anderson and Mike Etzel).
Good thread. Trends have definitely moved to earlier picking, so ‘09 and ‘06 pick dates would be much earlier had I to do them over. The idea was that you’ll get green flavors early but I’ve come to see it more like cooking something rare or al dente. Done but not too done.
It’s easier to pick early if you know that the fruit will visit the destemmer. If you are going to whole cluster ferment, then you have to wait for the seeds to ripen. And then ignore every number you measure.
Marcus, don’t forget the bit about us then shorting your order and subbing it out with different fruit…
It’s funny now, but for me coming from five vintages at Patton Valley (where we shared the vineyard crew with Beaux Freres) which always came off with impeccable precision. Then switching to the 29 different clients and always some fiasco at Maysara/Momtazi. Believe me when I say that it was an easy decision to venture out on my own.
Mmm…we both tend to hit the stems pretty hard. When I sell my Armbruster it will definitely say “lightly used”.
About half the production is 100% whole cluster, and nothing is below 30%. So only about 20-25% of my fruit hits the destemmer. That said, by restricting canopy, I believe we are getting physiological changes including seed ripening, earlier and at lower Brix.
That’s the best part about Pinot Noir. We each know exactly the right way to do it(even if it’s completely different) and then it turns out that the vineyards are the real difference maker.
Yeah, I hear this. 2006 wasn’t the only year that happened.
I believe you.