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Frequently Asked Questions How/why did you get started? We had had enough of the corporate lifestyle. You are at the mercy of the airlines when every project is out of town. There was a lack of quality time together. We were looking for a change, a more rewarding lifestyle. We attended our first ¡Salud! event in the fall of 1997 and were enchanted by the Oregon wine industry. We met Dick Erath, Dick Ponzi and several others who were very open with us and generous with their time. We began looking for land the following year. We wanted to take responsibility for a project that was our own. We wanted to learn how to grow great wines by starting at the “ground level”, by doing the work and learning the land. This is one reason we do not purchase fruit, we grow all of our wine. It’s personal.
How long have you been doing this? This is all we can seem to remember ever doing. We happened upon an old cherry orchard in the Spring of 1999. For the previous year or so, we had been researching soils and microclimates as well as barrel tasting specific Pinot noir clones from several vineyard sites with basalt or sedimentary parent material. We got to know the gentleman who was farming the Montmorency cherries and learned about the orchard. I told him it looked like his orchard was planted on top of my vineyard. We both smiled and the deal was done. That Spring, he gave us a crash course in agriculture and explained that farm equipment is a special category unto itself. He also taught us to respect the land and that our job was really to keep it in trust for future generations. We harvested the cherries that summer and began preparations for vineyard planting the following spring. It was Earth day in the spring of 2000 when we had planted our last vine and established the first 10 acres of vineyard at Amalie Robert Estate.
What did you do before this? We were both involved in the hi-tech world. Now we are committed to agriculture! Ernie was with Microsoft and was stationed in Dublin, Ireland in 1993. Dena was a consultant who was working for Microsoft in Redmond, Washington. Fate took a hand, and we met up in Ireland for a week. Dena had always wanted an overseas assignment and soon relocated to London. Ernie soon started taking weekends off, and people wondered if he was OK. Over the course of our overlapping assignments, we had a chance to do some touring. Frequently, one of us would be in some western European city and have the opportunity to stay the weekend. That situation resulted in a call something like this: “Hey, can you meet me in Paris on Friday. I am stuck here for the weekend.” Or, “I am staying at the Albatros in Portugal this weekend, can you join me?” Those weekends helped us keep tabs on our sanity.
How did you come up with your name/label? Our label is the combination of our middle names. “Amalie” (pronounced AIM-a-lee) is Dena’s and “Robert” is Ernie’s. We had a piece of flip chart paper in the kitchen and brainstormed all kinds of stuff. Those names stayed up about 3 months and anytime we had a new idea, we would write it down. Finally, we sat at the kitchen table over coffee and decided it was time to decide. We looked out the window at our budding vineyard and then back at each other. That’s all it took. We decided to go with the name that reflected the hard work and commitment we both shared, “Amalie Robert Estate.”
What’s a Dijon clone? A clone is a selection of plants that share a common origin or “Mother vine”. A Mother vine is selected for research because it exhibits some unique characteristic or genetic variation from other similar vines. Cuttings from a mother vine are propagated, grown and grapes are produced to make wine. The resulting wine is evaluated and the clone is characterized by the wine quality. In France, clonal research of grape vines (Vitis Vinifera) began in the 1960s. The purpose behind this research, which continues today, is to identify the specific characteristics of a vine that has genetic variation from other vines of the same variety. This is the definition of a clone. Once a clone is established, it is given a number that uniquely identifies it. Today, there are over 200 known clones of Pinot noir due to genetic variation, more than any other varietal. Thanks to the ongoing research, we are able to distinctly identify and replicate Pinot noir vines that produce more complex and interesting wines. We feel that blending the Dijon clones, creates a more complete and compelling wine. The term “Dijon” identifies the French research station where the clonal research was certified. For Pinot noir clones 113, 114, 115, 667 and 777, the mother vines originated from the Cote-d’Or region of Burgundy, and the clones were certified by the National Interprofessional Office of Wines in – you guessed it – Dijon, located just north of Burgundy. And, if you find yourself in Burgundy, keep an eye open for the local mustards. I am told they are very good!
What can you tell me about your vineyard? Our vineyard is located about 15 miles southwest of Salem in the central Willamette Valley and is comprised of the Bellpine soil series. This soil series is characterized by moderately deep well drained soils found on foothills and formed from marine sediments. The aspect is predominately south facing, with an elevation ranging from 275 to 650 feet. Our vineyard is spaced 7 ½ feet wide in the tractor row and 4 feet between each vine providing a moderate density of 1,452 vines per acre. We currently have about 30 acres under 43,130 vines. We chose our vine spacing to maximize the number of vines we could plant per acre while maintaining tractor safety. This was very important to us, as Ernie is the “wheel man” on the farm. We have our 30 acres of vines divided into 34 blocks. We have done this to capture the specific soil and microclimate changes that occur within the vineyard. Along with small blocks of Chardonnay, Pinot meunier, Syrah and Viognier, we have chosen 11 clones of Pinot noir growing on 5 different phylloxera resistant rootstocks to add to the mix. We see differences during the growing season from block to block, but it is in the winery where we can taste those differences. Our vines are oriented north/south on the main slope and we also have about 5 acres with an east/west aspect. When it comes to planting on hillsides, you have to respect the lay of the land. The trellis system is a Vertical Shoot Position (VSP) design. This means throughout the weeks of late May through June, we are trying to direct the growth of every shoot to be “upright” within the trellis system. This seemingly endless effort results in more sun and wind exposure in the canopy, reduces disease pressure and helps to more evenly ripen our fruit. It is a time sensitive and expensive operation we perform. It is absolutely critical to the quality of our fruit. To lend some perspective, imagine that a typical vine has 16 shoots, this means we will have about 690,000 shoots that will need to be positioned – by hand. But to grow the best wine, this is what must be done.
What can you tell me about the winery? The winery at Amalie Robert Estate was designed by Ernie Munch. Ernie Pink and Ernie Munch worked together for about 4 months until they had a design that would allow a gravity flow process on 3 levels. The fermentation area is exposed stud construction as a reminder of how Oregon started their wine industry a mere 40 years earlier. The barrel cellar is below ground and has the benefit of natural cooling and humidity control. The building is designed not to get in the way of the wine. Much like a trellis system will not guarantee you beautiful fruit, the winery does not make the wine. The winery is dedicated to a purpose. That purpose is to facilitate the stewardship of the wine from the moment the grapes arrive, though the fermentation, barrel aging and bottling processes. It is a good home.
What do you love (or are passionate about) in this business? Two things come to mind here. First, there is nothing quite like preparing a meal from local, seasonal ingredients and enjoying a glass of wine that you have grown. From Oregon Dungeness Crab with Dijon Clones Chardonnay, and wild Oregon troll caught Chinook Salmon with wild Chanterelles with Dijon Clones Pinot Noir to Oregon raised leg of lamb and Rogue creamery cheeses with Amalie’s Cuvée. Great food and wine experiences are a deeply personal indulgence. When visitors come to see us, we want to provide the types of experiences we have enjoyed from wine regions all over the world. Producers with just a few barrels to corporate giants can give a compelling and educational experience. We strive to share our experiences and provide a connection to our vineyard through our wines. We believe in enjoying what you are doing, and learning something along the way.
How do you decide on the blends? Our Dijon Clones Pinot Noir is our signature wine. We will produce this wine every year. It is a blend from all of our Dijon Clone blocks. It provides a “reference point” if you will, from the vintage. It is a wine made in the field. “Amalie’s Cuvée” is based on the Pommard clone of Pinot noir. This wine is a selection of barrels that are more interesting as a blend than any single barrel on its own. This wine is made in the cellar. “Estate” has come into its own very recently. The base clones for this wine are 114 and 115 from our favorite blocks. While tasting in the cellar, we find these blocks to produce fruit that is very rich, complex and extremely interesting. To this we experiment with a little Pommard or Wadenswil clone. If it makes the blend more interesting, we have the ability to add it. “The Reserve” is our most intriguing blend from the vintage. We begin with our favorite barrels. Ernie prepares the trials and pre-screens the blends. Dena then tastes for the “YUM” factor. The 2006 vintage will be the first for “The Reserve” – a single barrel blend of Dijon 113 and Wadenswil – 25 cases. We also have more than just a passing fondness for the Wadenswil clone of Pinot noir. This clone grown on sedimentary soils like ours can produce a stunning wine. We have 6 blocks of Wadenswil planted and you can bet if we have the right vintage, a Wadenswil bottling will grace the Amalie Robert label. We also make a special blend for the ¡Salud! Pinot Noir auction held each fall. This event raises funds for the agricultural workers and their families who pass though our communities throughout the year. This blend is for the auction only and we only make 5 cases of it. Like most things in life, you must be present to win.
How would you describe your wine style? We strive to grow wines that reflect our vineyard and the growing season. In the winery we add a few bunches of grapes to the fermenters as whole clusters. This means the berries are still on the stem. We let the fermentations start naturally with the indigenous yeast from our grapes. We chose several different coopers to supply our French Oak barrels. Our mission is to steward the fruit from the vineyard to your glass and to have you appreciate the character of the vintage.
The great cork debate We had chosen synthetic corks for our wines for the simple reason that we do not like corked wine. In our travels we have purchased special wines from special places. We enjoy these wines with foods that remind us of our travels. There are few things as disappointing as opening a corked bottle of wine tied to so many memories. However, after a few years experience, we have determined natural corks hold a better promise for long term aging of Pinot noir. We have chosen Ganau as our cork supplier for Amalie Robert Estate Pinot Noir. Our research and experimentation have satisfied us that quality from Ganau is second to none.
How long should I age Oregon Pinot noir? The key to extended aging of any fine wine is proper storage. Look for a space without direct sunlight that can maintain a constant temperature of 55-65 degrees Fahrenheit and about 50-70 percent humidity. The best option is to lay the bottles on their side and do not disturb them. There are several high quality “kitchen” wine coolers on the market today that can make this task very easy. The issue we have found is that you end up shortening the aging potential of the wines due to the ease of access! Once you have the right conditions, the wine will continue to age by developing secondary aroma and flavor characteristics and losing its youthful aromas and flavors. For Oregon Pinot noir, we typically prefer the wines between 3-7 years after the vintage year. However, there are certain vintages where Mother Nature makes us wait a bit longer for the wines to realize their full potential. Philosophically speaking, a wine is at its peak when your palate preference matches the wine’s phase of development. If you prefer the fruit driven aromas and flavors of a young wine, then consider exploring the wines within 3 years of the vintage. If you are looking for more bottle bouquet and complex secondary flavors, keep the wine out of the kitchen cooler and target 3-7 years after the vintage.
What are wings and why would you cut them off? Pinot Noir clusters are blessed with what is typically described as a “fruiting tendril”, or a wing. The wing can be just a few berries or in some cases, can be significantly larger than the main cluster. Ernie thinks the wing is Mother Nature’s back-up plan. In years when the weather is very bad during bloom, the main cluster may set little or no fruit. The wing, however, begins to flower about a week later, and may have a better chance of setting fruit. Remember, the vine is trying to create viable seeds to reproduce. However, as a result of flowering later than the main cluster, wings also ripen later. Specifically, they take longer to develop flavors and nuanced aromas. By removing this fruit in the vineyard when it is unripe, we believe we are enhancing our wine quality. This is another example of how we feel we are growing our wine in the vineyard, not making it in the winery.
A significant factor in reducing erosion is permanent and recycle (summer/winter) cover crop systems. Our vineyard is located on a south facing slope subject to an average of 45 inches of rainfall per year. This is about 1.25 million gallons of water per acre spread over about 6 fall and winter months. A permanent cover crop is between every other vine row and is used to hold the soil and provide a durable surface for tractor and foot travel year-round. This cover crop is maintained much like a healthy lawn, just by periodic mowing. We have chosen tall fescue, annual rye grass and white clover. This blend will quickly establish and fertilize itself due to the nitrogen fixing of the clover. The result is a self sustaining permanent cover crop that reduces tractor passes and increases safety. The goal of a recycle cover crop system in alternate rows is to reduce winter rain erosion and to supply nutrients to the vines. Each year’s summer and winter cover crops vary to reduce the chance of establishing crop specific pests and encourage bio-diversity and beneficial insects. The cycle starts in the fall before harvest. We till in the summer cover crop to return nutrients to the soil and prepare a seed bed for the winter cover crop. The winter cover crop is a combination of a fast growing grass or barley, with a nitrogen fixer such as winter peas. As the weather cools and the fall showers begin, these seeds germinate and grow rapidly to hold the soil. They continue to grow into mid-Spring when the rains subside and the soil begins to dry. At this time we are mowing last year’s canes into these rows. Ernie drives a crawler to minimize soil compaction. As the soil is drying, we begin to till the winter cover crop, recycling the nutrients and plant material into the soil for the coming growing season. The green material, along with the nitrogen we grew will help break down the woody canes that were chopped up by the fail mover. We then prepare the seedbed for the Summer cover crop. The Summer cover crop consists of Buckwheat and another Nitrogen fixer such as vetch. The benefits of buckwheat include its fast establishment, low water usage (morning dew mostly) and the mineralization of Phosphorus upon decomposition. Phosphorus is very immobile in the soil and the vine’s root system utilizes mycorrhizal fungi to uptake this macronutrient. Vetch is very important in fixing Nitrogen, and is also a relatively shallow rooted plant that does not significantly compete with the vines. This is especially critical in dry-farmed agriculture. The “re-cycle” begins again before harvest. Through both the permanent and recycle cover crop systems, the vineyard benefits from reduced soil erosion, enhanced bio-diversity of plants and insects, reduced reliance on off-farm inputs/fertilizers and reduced tractor passes and soil disturbance (again enhancing bio-diversity.) Ernie would like to recognize Leonard Forster of Pickseed West in Albany for his cover crop recommendations, wisdom, and sharing of his wealth of knowledge and experience.
What’s a Degree Day, you ask? Well, that is farmer speak for tracking the growing season. Degree days are our approximation of what climate the vine is experiencing. We set 50 degrees as the benchmark, because very little development occurs in the vine below 50 degree's. We set out temperature loggers in a grid pattern throughout the vineyard. These loggers take a reading every 24 minutes, and hold about 1 month's worth of data. We read them each month and look for the average temperature. If the average is below 50 degrees, we do not accumulate any degree days. If the average is above 50 degrees however, we subtract 50 from it, then multiply the average temperature by the number of days in the reading for that month’s Degree Day accumulation. For example, if the average was 53 and we had 30 days in the sample, the degree days would be 90 degree days. Typically we need about 2,000 degree days to ripen Pinot Noir, a bit more for Chardonnay. This brings us to rating a vintage based on the growing conditions. Typically, this is hard to do without tasting the wine, however that seems to be little deterrent these days. With the exception of severe frosts or rains, most years will produce very good to excellent vintages. That is if the grower is paying attention. Look for his or her footprints in the vineyard. That is a somewhat overlooked clue to vintage quality. Winegrapes have one purpose on this Earth - to ripen seeds, and they will do it very well in most years. That means they will put up shoots and leaves, to ripen the seeds in the berries and then build sugars and drop acids to entice some fauna to eat the berries. The fauna is the transport mechanism to disperse the seeds, and the vine’s job is complete. As winemakers, our job is to taste and monitor the development of the fruit, with the purpose of producing compelling wines. The science part of winemaking provides us with the rules of the road. These are the sugar levels (Brix) and pH. Once these numbers enter a specific range, then we switch from analytics to sensory evaluation. The vine provides us with clues as to fruit maturity. One key factor Ernie uses is to chew the skins and seeds. This will release potassium and tannins, and provides a marker for planning harvest. Berry by berry and row by row, Dena and Ernie walk through the blocks to monitor flavor development. In laying out our own vineyard, we chose to create small blocks, most of which are less than a single acre. This allows us to select harvest dates that more accurately maximize aroma and flavor development in our wines. From there, we hand harvest by block and map the fruit to a specific fermenter. Each fermenter will produce about 4 barrels of wine. So in the cellar, we can walk the barrels as we do the vineyard blocks. Check back in the summer, and we will cover blending those barrels.
Tell me about the Julian calendar Most of us rely on a calendar to help mark the significant events in our lives. During the growing season, we prefer to think in terms of a Julian calendar (introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC), where each day is sequentially numbered. Before then, the Roman calendar was used. However, the Roman calendar reminds Ernie of his CPA days in trying to understand the tax code. Alas, there was reform and it happened in 46 BC by making that year 445 days long. Follow this link to learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar The Julian calendar holds special interest in winegrowing. It is a way to track the progression of the season, when marked with the happenings in the field. For example, we see that over the last 10 years, our Rosemary bushes have flowered somewhere between the 30-60th day of the year. Earlier flowering reflects a warmer spring. Perhaps this model has a role to play in the climate change debate. As an aside, we are about 2.5 million days into the Julian calendar. Here is a very good link to understanding the Julian calendar: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.php. You can convert your birthday to the Julian system at this site. The result makes a nice response to the ubiquitous question: “When were you born?” Of course the vines don’t track the days, they track the climate conditions and respond accordingly. We notice that bud break for our Pinot Noir corresponds to the flowering of the purple lilac – and this is the case around the world. The lilac is called an indicator plant. It will indicate when Pinot Noir will break bud in that region. This is something Dick Erath knew when he “risked” planting Pinot Noir in Oregon all those years ago. So when you see the lilacs starting to bloom, you know the Oregon vineyards are waking up. The next big vineyard event is flowering which happens around day 166, plus or minus 30 days. Another key relationship is the time between flowering and harvest. Regardless of the year, this is very close to 105 days for Pinot Noir in our vineyard. Flowering also loosely corresponds with Dena’s birthday. Imagine 42,000 vines producing about 40 “inflorescence” with about 100 flowers each. At 168,000,000 flowers in bloom, that is one big birthday bouquet!
What Does Estate Bottled Mean? 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.®”
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