What's on the Kitchen Sink this week?

The wines, foods, people and places
in NW Wine Country

-
--page 1 | 2 |

This week I talked to David O'Reilly about harvest 2003, and what he does out there in the vineyards.
Then I report to you on his new releases, especially the SInister one. -jy

Report from Washington
"The Irish Opinion"
9-18-03

David O'Reilly, winemaker and co-owner of Owen Roe Winery, is out in the vineyards in Washington State, tasting fruit and checking on ripeness, waiting for the exact best moment to harvest his grapes. I caught him on his cell phone yesterday walking the rows of Elerding Vineyard, and although I could not see his teeth, my bet is that even though it was morning, they were already turning purple.

David said that the Columbia Valley vineyards he has visited have seen high temperatures in the 70's, with nights down in the mid 40's. The temperature change between day and night is a factor that builds complexity and ripeness in the fruit, and enhances the acidity that is so important in building a well structured wine. This long, sunny fall with cold cold nights produces a grape capable of becoming a wine with with those precious hints of coffee bean, chocolate, layers of fruit flavors, smoke, and herbs and big dark tannic core that just does not happen in hotter sections of the country. It's an amazing phenomenon, and the envy of winemakers from other parts of the world.

Although the extremely hot weather this summer may have shut down the vines, they are back on schedule now and David harvested 14 tons of Syrah from the Old Block of Elerding Vineyard this week. The vineyard produced under a ton per acre (this is very low, but fairly typical of the sites David selects for grapes).

What does he do out there?

I asked him about what he's doing out there, driving from vineyard to vineyard, walking the sites, tasting, testing. He strongly believes that it is by spending time in the vineyards, visiting them again and again, year after year, that he gains the understanding he needs to get the most out of his sites.

He said that he's on the road watching the vineyards as soon as veraison (the grapes start showing color, usually in July) starts. Now that harvest is beginning, his blocks will be harvested incrementally in many cases. He goes into a block, has the upper part harvested, but waits as much as ten days for the lower part of the block to be picked. There's just that much difference between sections of a site.

Really? That much difference between parts of a vineyard?

David says yes. Casablanca Vineyard, he says, for example, is really seven different vineyards, from his perspective. For example, his value brand Chardonnay, "O'Reilly" , is made from a block of Dijon 96 clone Chardonnay grapes at Cassablanca, while an adjacent block of Dijon 76 Chardonnay fruit makes his top of the line "Owen Roe" Chardonnay. The difference in fruit is that striking. Another vineyard, the highly regarded Dubrul site, has an upper section that is literally rock, where the Syrah ripens a month after the rest of the block. Each section of the blocks he buys for his wine are carefully, individually examined before and during harvest to get the absolute best quality grapes. And each section's characteristics are meticulously noted for future years, creating a viticultural record of the section's characteristics.

He stressed to me that is is the careful management of vineyards on such a focused scale that has resulted in Burgundy's highest rated Pinot noirs, made from fruit picked from little blocks owned by the same family for many generations. The families really know what the vines can do, and learn to grow the vines to maximize their potential.

Hundreds of years of careful study cannot be instantly reproduced in the Northwest, but even twenty years out, the best winemakers are beginning to develop a longer range understanding of their vineyards, and are making changes to maximize quality. Note that David does not own the vineyards he is so carefully studying, ut he has long term contracts that allow him to develop the same kind of in depth knowledge that winemakers with Estate vineyards could record.

So you can make absolutely first rate wine without owning the site? Well, David is certainly a good example of a winemaker who does. For that matter, Peter Rossback, Ken Wright, Patricia Green, Ben Smith, Charlie Hoppes, are all winemakers who work with fruit purchased from vineyards they do not own. Hmmm... and in all their cases, my sense of their wine making style is that they are incredibly involved with the vineyards. Patty Green even has a longstanding permanent crew of workers who have been with her for ten years or more who take care of her vineyard blocks. When I have visited the vineyards where Peter, Ken, and Charlie get their grapes, the vines are meticulously cared for, and there's a good chance of running into one of them, out there checking the grapes.

I think in the next few weeks I'll ask some winemakers who work with their own Estate vineyards what they think the advantages and disadvantages of owning your own vineyard and restricting your production to that fruit to be. What a run on sentence, but you get the idea? More on this in a few weeks.

I Can't Wait, I want Some Owen Roe Wine NOW!

While I'm waiting for David to make his 2003 wines, I'm enjoying his new 2002 releases, in particular his "Sinister Hand" Grenache Syrah mix. At $20/$18, it is his "best value" wine under the prestigious Owen Roe label, and as usual, the quality of the wine is great. The packaging, another Owen Roe feature, is striking and the story behind the name fascinating.

The word is out on this wine and it has been racing out the door.
(Sold out 11/1/03).

David often says- "it's what's inside the bottle that counts", and he's done a great job on that account here. The wine is a delightful medium-full bodied fruity red that makes me smile when I drink it. Really, you cannot be depressed and drink this wine. It's "exuberant"!

This Rhone inspired wine is a fresh blend of the exuberant bright fruit of the grenache grape and the wild spice and big dark cherry fruit of Syrah. The wine has wild and gamey notes of bacon fat suggesting the wines of the Northern Rhone.

The label shows the severed hand of Owen Roe O'Neil- the Irish patriot whose severed hand appears on the coat of arms of winemaker David O'Reilly's family.

This wine is a blend of grapes from the Columbia River Valley. The Grenache grapes and 75% of the Syrah grapes are from the Elerding vineyard in Alderdale, Washington. The remaining grapes are from the Lewis Vineyard near the Dalles, Oregon.

David O'Reilly says that he is so happy to share this great value wine, an awesome value. He's tickled to be able to offer a great value- as he has found grapes at lower prices, he is passing the savings to us. What a nice thing to do!

I have to admit to reaching for the fancy stuff- that Owen Roe Hillside Vineyard Zinfandel 02 ($36/$32.40) is pretty irresistible. When I think of Zinfandel, I used to think of California- let's face it, they pioneered the wine. But with the right vineyard site and a winemaker who understands the grape, awesome Zinfandels are being made in the NW.

To my palate, the best Zins from the NW have more complexity and rich, hugely textured backbone, that the (to me) high alcohol fruit bombs of that state south of here. The cold nights and clear sunny days of fall in Washington State particularity work their magic and build complexity and healthy acidity that translates to backbone and big dark complex fruit flavors.

David made his new Zinfandel 02 from fruit that he says "may be the best flavored grapes that we have ever tasted - the night that we de stemmed the fruit we couldn't keep our families from eating a portion of their weight of the incredible fruit". The wine is a monster, and does have a pretty high alcohol content- 16.5%. But there is not a hint of "heat" and the gushingly rich fruit flavors are balanced with big, balanced tannins and exotic, intense scents.

Next-- The Massive Dubrul Syrah 02 from Owen Roe -------------------------------------page 1 | 2 | ----