What's on Jean's Kitchen SInk this week?
The wines, the foods,
the people and places in NW wine country.
Harvest
2003 is almost here-
What Winemakers and Vineyard Managers are doing
this Week
9-11-03
Harvest is relentlessly bearing down on winemakers in Oregon and Washington. Just like birth pangs, once they get started, the process is pretty much going to happen. In the wine case, it's all about Brix and Acid.
I spoke by cell phone with David O'Reilly last week as he walked one of his vineyards in Washington State. He was tasting Syrah grapes throughout the vineyard, deciding what areas would ripen first, getting a sense of what the fruit is like this year. At the time we spoke, there had not been rain for months, and he was saying that the grapes were very sweet. Not always the best thing, as sweetness without acidity can make for a flabby wine that does not age well (remember the 94 harvest in OR?)
Rains have come across Oregon and Washington in the last few days, slowing down harvest and giving the vineyards time for the newly cold nights to do their magic. The cold nights, down into the mid 30's, combined by bright sunny days in the 70's, let complexity develop with increases in acidity. Unless the rain gets too rough, the recent shift in the weather may make the 2003 grapes supremely ripe, and perhaps with a good balance of acid and sugar.
At right, partially ripe grapes, Karina Vineyard, Alpine WInery, 9-03-03.
"Karina" Vineyard at Alpine Winery, September 5, 2003
September 5, 2003 Alpine Vinyard
Pinot noir grapes at Patricia Green Cellars Estate Vineyard 9-7-03
Patricia Green told me this morning (9-11-03) that she is busy racking and bottling all the wines from 2002, to make room for the soon to be harvested 2003's. Only the larger wineries have enough capacity to keep two vintages in barrel, so she, like many other winemakers in Or and WA, is working into the wee hours to prepare for harvest. And then, when harvest starts? Lots more wee hours. More about harvest and primary fermentation next week as harvest begins.
Patricia Green Cellars Estate Vineyard 9-7-03
Cleaning out the Fermenting Tanks at Beaux Freres, 9-07-03
Beaux Freres Winery seemed positively calm this week, with workers scrubbing out the fermentation tanks. The large white plastuc containers on the left are for harvesting grapes. Stephen Goff, assistant winemaker at Beaux Freres, told me that the heat had dehydrated grapes in some of the Ribbon Ridge vineyards... but the next day, the rain came, and now the vineyards are looking good, with well balanced sugar and acid. Change in the vineyard happens in a matter of hours at this stage of ripening, and everyone gets out there and tastes and tests and comtemplates, and compares notes at Lumpy's.
OSU Experimental Vineyard from Alpine Vineyard 9-3-03
Patricia Green Cellars- the new deck! 9-07-03
Past Columns
9-11-03 Harvest is relentlessly bearing down on
NW Winemakers
Help!
What winemakers are up to today to get ready.
8-27-03 What my Family
Devoured This Summer
THe redcycling bin proves revealing.
8-19-03 Seeking out new wines and new civilizations
Exploring Central Washington
and getting a little "Trekky" about it.
7-30-03 Seriously Hot
Wines that Taste great in the Heat
The Heat made me do it!
7-19-03 Wine Vinegars and Fresh Herbs
Using summer herbs to make great flavors.
7-10-03 Walla Walla Sweet Onions Rule
Walla Walla winemakers and what they do with their local gourmet delight.
6-26-03 Lots of Empty Bottles
New wineries and new vintages all must be tasted- it's a tough job!
No,
really.
5-26-03 Shallots and Cat Fur
The Shallots here in Oregon are exceptional, and no one seems to know about
them...
About Jean Yates
Jean first worked with the Oregon wine industry in 1989, when she helped develop marketing brochures for wineries in the South Willamette. She then started Avalon, and has supported the industry through her wine shop and web site ever since. Jean enjoys promoting Oregon and Washington wines and bringing Northwest wines to the notice of the wineloving public.
Jean used to work in the computer industry, where she worked in market research on the UNIX operating system and co-authored several books on UNIX. She built and manages the Avalon web site and writes the newsletters and instructional materials for the store.
Jean has also written for Wine Today, Organic Gardening Magazine, and Byte Magazine. She has nine cats and lives out in the country in an old farmhouse with a big garden, a bunch of computers, and a lot of telephone lines. Heaven.
The photo of Jean at age five, in formal tutu for her ballet recital, shows her at her best.