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Amalie Robert 2010 Spring Review Published March 15, 2010
Dallas, Oregon 97338
Phone/FAX 503.88.CUVEE (28833)
Web site Address
Spring has Sprung Flower Gallery!
The February Spring Teaser came and went, but provided just enough time for a quick pass through the vineyard on the crawler. This first pass is very important for several reasons, not the least of which is finding out if the tractor battery is dead. This is why some days are farming days, and some days are tractor maintenance days. Until you turn the key, you don’t really know.
This first pass on the crawler begins the nutrient recycle program. Although not immediately obvious to the untrained eye, Ernie is doing more than just flailing about in the vineyard. He is chopping up the prior year’s fruiting canes into little pieces that the soil fauna can help to digest back into the soil. This composting of the canes (browns) along with some grass (greens) makes a perfect recipe for nurturing our vines for the coming growing season. Think of the soil as the plant’s stomach and we are giving it something to chew on. To learn more, check out this FAQ: Tell Me about Cover Crops
It is hard to have a conversation today without the economy being mentioned. We had no idea how intertwined the wine industry was with the global economy. Sure, we enjoy wines from all over the world as do you, and have traveled to several countries to experience their wines and culture. But the more we got into the industry, the more we learned about the “business” of wine.
It is the case that several countries produce more wine than they consume. As of 2006, the top 3 wine producing countries needed to find export markets for 729 million cases of wine. The United States can help out with about 37 million cases. Did you know the country with the highest 2006 per capita wine consumption is Vatican City with 59 liters of wine consumed per person per year? Of course this is not really that much wine with a population of just 932.
Sources: http://www.wineinstitute.org/files/WorldWineProductionbyCountry.pdf http://www.wineinstitute.org/files/WorldWine%20ConsumptionbyVolume.pdf This excess wine can go three places: First it can be exported as a finished wine such as a fine Chianti or Rioja, second it can be distilled into fuel and lastly it can be exported as bulk wine to another country. It seems that through some course of events, wine identified as Pinot Noir but not actually Pinot Noir has been imported into the United States from France for at least the last year, if not longer. Often this imported bulk wine is used to blend with domestically produced wine to increase a winery’s production at a lower cost than producing the wine domestically. This is a well established practice that has been in place for quite some time. To wit, it is often not readily apparent to the customer that the wine they are bringing to the dinner party is not entirely what they think it is. Here is a brief posting from the Federal Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), one of a handful of Federal agencies that regulate the wine industry. Note they are relying on “…competent authorities…” Reminds us of the Prefect of Police in the movie Casablanca who, with a handful of cash, is “Shocked to find gambling going on!” at Rick's American Café. "On February 17, 2010, a number of French wine producers and traders were found guilty of mislabeling wine as “pinot noir.” The wine had actually been produced using less expensive grape varieties. The mislabeled wines were sold to American importers. The TTB has been aware of this issue and has been involved over the past year in discussions with the appropriate French authorities responsible for the regulation of these products. The TTB is conducting appropriate inquiries and investigations to verify the allegations. The French Government has pledged cooperation and the TTB anticipates full disclosures from the competent authorities, along with official translations of the court documents. The TTB is waiting for an official translation of the court documents and has begun investigations to determine the appropriate course of action to take regarding the American importers of these mislabeled wines. Additional actions may be indicated and appropriate once the necessary investigations have been completed and information is verified." Source: http://ttb.gov/main_pages/mislabeled-french-wines.shtml The folks who founded the Oregon Wine industry were a clever sort. They wanted to build a reputation for Oregon Pinot Noir that would be as honest as the day is long. They codified their beliefs in the state’s liquor laws by requiring any Oregon Pinot Noir to contain at least 90% Pinot Noir grown and produced in Oregon. Also, Oregon Pinot Noir from a recognized American Viticultural Area (AVA) such as the Willamette Valley must contain 95% wine from the vintage printed on the label. Taken together, these are the strictest regulations in the United States and go well beyond the Federal laws (and most state laws) that only require 75% of the varietal printed on the label to actually be in the bottle. As the economy sputters along, we see a seemingly endless supply of deals and discounts. People are reviewing their buying habits and use of discretionary funds and rightfully so. We certainly like to experiment with different wines from different regions, and usually this is at the lower price points. But what can you do to insure you are getting the value you are paying for? The Federal agencies that regulate the wine industry are primarily concerned with collecting tax revenues. If you are trying to buy wine from a winery in another state, you may also be keenly aware of how much tax revenue each state is looking to collect from their resident wine consumers. But for all of their warts, they do have a few good ideas. The one most applicable to this discussion is the term “Estate Bottled.” To use the term “Estate Bottled” on a wine label, a winery must satisfy these 3 requirements as published on the TTB website: (The winery:...) (1) Is located in the labeled viticultural area; (2) Grew all of the grapes used to make the wine on land owned or controlled by the winery within the boundaries of the labeled viticultural area; (3) Crushed the grapes, fermented the resulting must, and finished, aged, and bottled the wine in a continuous process (the wine at no time having left the premises of the bottling winery). The label designation “Estate Bottled” is the most restricted designation a winery is permitted to use. The winery must reside in the AVA and control the entire winemaking process. Only the grapes that the winery grew within the AVA are allowed in the bottle. This is the consumer’s strictest assurance that they are receiving the value they are paying for. Amalie Robert Estate wines qualified for the “Estate Bottled” designation with the completion of our Estate winery and subsequent harvest of our 100% Estate grown 2006 vintage. We grow all of our own wine. When you purchase Amalie Robert Estate wine, all you need do is look out our window to see where the wine was grown. Or as we like to say: “Wines true to the soil, wines true to the vintage.®”
Mother Nature gave us a preview of coming attractions, and we are getting ready for the main event – Earth Day! For readers just joining the Amalie Robert community, you may not know that Earth Day is the anniversary of the vineyard at Amalie Robert Estate. The last vine of our first 10 acre planting was stitched into the ground on Earth Day. It was the turn of the century – 2000 AD. Dena and Ernie will open the winery from 10 ‘til 3 on Saturday and Sunday April 24–25. It will be a lovely weekend and we eagerly await all of Oregon’s glorious sunshine - even the liquid kind! We also have a few interesting experiences in the works we hope you will enjoy with us. First off, this will be an “A-List” Hers and His release weekend for the 2007 Amalie’s Cuvée and Estate Pinot Noirs. Both Dena’s and Ernie’s blends have been waiting oh so patiently in the cellar and now is their time to shine. Ernie will be pouring them side by side with the 2006 vintage to highlight the growing season differences between the vintages. Follow this link to read the 2007 Vintage Primer, and the Hers and His Reserves. Whose wine will you prefer? We will also be making our first futures offer. We are reluctant to offer futures, as all of our wines are blends – single vineyard blends that is. So, we are never really sure the final profile for the wines until we complete our blends. But in this case, we have something very special to offer. The 2008 vintage was widely acclaimed as the best Oregon vintage of all vintages – ever. We think the planets were in complete alignment when we harvested our Wadenswil clone Pinot Noir on October 30, 2008. For the Pinot Noir, this was the last block hanging, taking in all of the beautiful October weather – and it shows. Wadenswil clone Pinot Noir grown on our Bellpine (sedimentary parent material) soils in the Willamette Valley is the height of Pinot Noir hedonism. Our first futures offer ever is the 2008 Wadenswil clone Pinot Noir. The blend is from 2 barrels and will represent approximately 45 cases. The wine will be in “Pre-bottling” over our Earth Day Anniversary celebration and Ernie will be providing samples for anyone interested. Our last Wadenswil bottling was from the 2003 vintage. The futures price is $40 per bottle with a 6 bottle minimum, which represents a 20% discount from the retail price of $50. A-List members receive an additional 10% discount for an A-List futures price of $35. (Not an A-List member? Click here to learn more.) The wine will be bottled in May of 2010 and available for release no later than our 2011 Earth Day Anniversary. We request that you place your futures orders by April 30, 2010. Lastly, we would like to give you something to share with the Earth this weekend. Instead of cheese and sweets and other things that gravitate toward our hips, we will be giving you the opportunity to grow your own – tree that is. We will have them on display and you can choose the one that’s right for you. Whatever your weekend plans, say “Thanks Mother Nature!” Kindest Regards, Dena & Ernie
Peruse the Library for Previous Newsletters
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Ernie
runs the crawler this time of year to reduce compaction of the wet soils. By
spreading out the tractor’s weight on the steel tracks, we maintain the
porosity of the soil that allows for water and nutrients to move through the
soil profile to the vines roots. The alternative is a wheel tractor that
compresses the soil, aka compaction. Think of it as the difference between a
nice airy chocolate croissant and a pan of triple chocolate brownies.
