Along that is. I know each site is going to be different, but so far this vintage is feeling dandy. My best to you all
Nothing screws with those of us who make wine from Oregon fruit like a harvest when you actually get to chose when to pick based on your own criteria (as opposed to the weather, etc).
From the samples I took yesterday (at my sources in the Chehalem Mountains AVA),I found sugars in the 22.5-24.6 range with pHs 3.2-3.3 range. Seed and stem maturity were good, but not remarkable. There was definitely some fruit dehydration going on (not a lot of it…the tiny berries primarily, and primarily due, I think, to the winds from the past few days). Flavorswere good…though a couple of sections had some tannins that I think might be problematic. – I put pick dates on the calendar,based on section, spread out over the next 13 days.
A fun year with lots of promise! I am excited to get the fruit in the house.
Adam Lee
Siduri Wines
I’m stunned at how ripe the flavors are on what I’ve taken in so far. Too much so, in a perfect world, but I’d take this vintage 9 times out of 10. Pretty darn ideal conditions. Todd’s right, you have to pick according to your goals. PH is most important to me. Then sugars because of their correlation to alcohol. Then “flavors” because they change so much from when you sample grapes to when wine goes in the bottle. There’s a correlation in the field for sure, but it’s more distant to the final product in my experience than acidity or sugar. Assuming you’re not looking to adjust things in the cellar.
So if you had to pick a similar harvest to 2012, what would it be, given the very preliminary data? 2002? You’re also tracking 2008 pretty closely.
Just want to add, as a wine consumer… I really love this thread.
Keep up with the updates, and thought processes.
Howard
VInce,
One thought and one question –
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From my experience the one thing that doesn’t seem to change much from the field taste to the wine into bottle is tannins. If, from taste, the tannins are not ripe then they don’t usually round out/age out particularly well. For us at Siduri, 1999 was an example of that in our Oregon locations. Maybe, with the passage of a lot of time they have somewhat…but it isn’t my favorite vintage because I screwed that up.
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Do you think that the lack of correlation between what you taste in the field and what you find in the bottle might be because of the higher malics that were talked about earlier…and how big a shift ml fermentation thus is. In CA we certainly see (generally speaking) more or a correlation and malic %s usually aren’t that high. –
Adam Lee
Siduri Wines
Adam, very interesting points. Thanks for that. Though I maybe enjoyed your '99s better than you, Muirfield sticks in my mind particularly. I hear you the quality of tannin and that makes a lot of sense. I find I’m looking for a little more tannin than I think other producers want, not green tannin but something a bit more in the mix than super round, polished tannin. I want something more like worsted wool, tight grained but a touch fuzzy, rather than the polish I hear others talk about. Maybe that translates into a different ripeness level, again not anything green but perhaps not something quite as late picked. Who knows, I’m still learning and I hope and trust that never ends. Thanks as well for the thoughts about malics. That likely plays a big part in what I’m finding grape to bottle, but there’s also simply the esters of fermentation, much less other changes, and then both oak flavors as well as oak influence on oxidation. So much happens after the pick… which by the way is underway for me, so I’m off. Back when I have a moment.
Had your 10 WV last night, very pretty.
Interesting quote from Scott Wright:
…the quality of the grapes we’re bringing into the winery is quite simply the best we’ve ever seen. Better than 2008, better than 2002. And that’s saying a lot.
Still nothing, Friday.
I’ve seen a lot of fruit at wineries in the last few days. Sorting consists of pulling out three leaves and a raisin which is, to say the least, unusual. However, this week’s wind has dried out the fruit and concentrated the sugars, so perhaps the forecasted weekend rain will actually help a bit as long as it stops before Thanksgiving. ![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}
Thursday is the day for all the single block pinot noir at Kramer. After that, only the Carmine will be left to hang. The quality of the clusters this year has been outstanding, I can’t wait to see how this wine changes in barrel.
This weather has been incredible, with Pinot ripening quickly everywhere I see. After today, I have all my Pinot in. Picked Zenith, Bjornson and Crowley Station from the Eola Hills all today and processed in Portland. Super excited to see more moderate sugars and lower pHs in the Eola Hills stuff, but it’s still on the ripe side. No green to speak of. Nothing to sort out but leaves across all four vineyards this harvest. The late season heat has been tough but I’m really happy with what I’ve got. I’ll bring in a small amount of chardonnay Thursday, then everything’s in. Now to bed.
First Oregon fruit in today…more scheduled throughout the week. Looks really good…the Monday rain seems serious but should be close to done by then.
Adam Lee
SIduri Wines
Quick question without reading the entire thread, what are you seeing for acids ? Got the pad wet yesterday with a little white and just 7 tons of red so far. I’m thinking we are about to launch into crazy mode over the next few days
Cheers and my best to all for a safe and fun harvest
L
I will pick some client wine from Ribbon Ridge tomorrow! Yes, safety first Linda! Fell over yesterday tipping bins, my hands just came off mid tug. Fortunately there was an empty barrel and rack behind me to crash into before catching the concrete.
Todd – glad you’re safe. Sorry for the flip remark on FB and no accompanying concern about your fall. That was an oversight. Sounds like it could have been serious.
No worries Ron, but I could have done without the fall. Odd enough #8 was the same one my friend fell off last year…
Linda, I’m seeing lower pHs than I would expect given the higher sugars. Most grapes were around 3.35 at picking, one lot lower, one up to 3.49. I keep seeing confirmation that tartic is 2 to 1 or more compared to malic. Some pH shifts have been high, some very low, and I don’t expect huge shifts in ML. We’ll see.
Todd, bummer. Our new place is slick, literally. Slippery floors and tight spaces with the forklift are a recipe for trouble if you’re not careful. So far so good.
Love the high tartaric ratio!