Last week, we applied the final touch to our 2010 Rice Estate Pinot Noir. And while there is such a thing as rice wine (aka sake), the name here refers to Clint Foundation member Rice University of Houston, Texas. At just 150 cases, this wine is more than manageable when it comes to wintertime cellar activities like filtering, bottling, and labeling. What’s in the bottle is lovely, a wine with pleasant acidity and big red fruit flavors, strawberry especially. But the focus last Thursday was on what was stuck to the outside of the bottle.

Slow and steady wins the race, especially where labeling is concerned.

Most wineries use an automated labeling machine which can knock out a case of wine in mere seconds. Most wineries are also significantly larger than us. With sub-200-case lots, it’s just a sensible to use a hand labeler, which turns out finished bottles at about a bottle every five seconds (give or take user error, cold conditions, or a pause to change the music). Once a rhythm is set, the process is quite efficient. One person unloads cases and readies blank bottles, one person runs the labeler, and another person loads cases while soaking the labels that didn’t quite make the cut. There is something truly rewarding about physically touching every bottle of one specific wine ever produced.

The device itself is fairly simple. A spool feeds the labels through a series of tightly-wound guides and a couple of pegs hold the bottle in place. The label is affixed via a hand crank. In the end, we tackled close to 2,000 bottles over a five hour stretch. The biggest holdup came from the cold cellar conditions which created condensation on the bottles. Toweling them off beforehand helped some, but it wasn’t until we pulled out the big guns – in this case a portable pair of floodlights – that we found a solution. The warm glow dried the bottles nicely, allowing for a sticky and lasting marriage of bottle and label.

User’s perspective: Setting the bottle

In the coming weeks, we’ll be cold stabilizing our 2011 Pinot Gris and Rose. Stay tuned for more.

Puncher

It’s little more than a plunger with holes drilled into the head, but this handy tool is in heavy rotation during the first few weeks of harvest. Used on young wines and freshly fermenting caps, the puncher allows for even extraction during maceration by mixing up the must. Punching-down provides aeration and helps reduce reductiveness in wines. It also builds muscle mass in those doing the punching, especially considering that it’s at least a twice-daily activity.

Breaking through the cap during a routine punchdown.

Flashlight

When it comes to barreling down wine, visibility is key. A powerful pump can fill a barrel in just a few minutes and while a timer is helpful, a flashlight allows for careful tracking. As fun as it is to guess how full the barrel is by the sound alone, this almost always leads to stained shirts and plenty of cursing. The best option here is a flashlight with a snake-like arm that can illuminate the inside of the barrel as it’s being filled. Take it one step further with a headlamp, which frees up a hand.

Buck Knife

Fact is, something always needs to be cut. From bags of freeze-dried yeast to brand new, plastic-wrapped oak barrels. Winemaker Dave Petterson uses his to whittle down bits of stick for plugging barrel leaks. This writer found a buck knife particularly helpful in slicing off the second crop from grape clusters as fruit poured in.

Forklift

Oh, how the process has simplified since the creation of the forklift. This dear machine does all of the heavy lifting throughout the winemaking cycle. Loading fruit, weighing fruit, loading the press, setting up the crush pad, stacking barrels, stacking fruit bins, even changing light bulbs in the cellar – all acts employ the rich talents of the forklift. And, if you’re going to be spending a lot of time behind the wheel, you might as well do it in style.

Our forklift is better than yours: Dice in the mirror.

Rush

Canada’s favorite prog-rock export thawed our hands and warmed our spirits during endless hours on the sorting line. It is one of few bands that can match the pace and complexity of harvest-time enology. Neil Peart’s masterful drum work provided the pulse for our every move. Some wineries prefer the therapy of classical, others the artfulness of jazz. This year, we selected the highly caffeinated organized chaos that is Rush.

Pressure Washer

In addition to obvious cleaning abilities, the pressure washer is utilized for swelling barrels. In other words, barrels that have been in storage for a while are filled with hot water, expanding the wood enough to create an airtight vessel. Once the barrels are swelled (that is, a suction effect occurs when the bung is pulled out of a partly filled barrel), the barrel is ready for wine.

Dishing out the steam treatment at Panther Creek Cellars.

Boxed Wine

Not so much for drinking as a brix level gauge in the lab. Being a finished product, the wine is dry, meaning the brix level is zero and can be used for calibrating equipment, specifically the refractometer. The box lasted all harvest, appearing every morning to set things straight and ensure that all of our important readings were accurate. These daily numbers – composed of the pH levels, sugar levels and temperature – guided us through winemaking process. Who knew that so much relied on a box of Franzia?

Dog

It’s tough to imagine a harvest without a pup. Man’s best friend lives up to his name at the winery, earning his keep by consuming unwanted grapes and barking when the next batch of fruit has arrived. He frightens vermin away from the vineyard and provides a much needed bolt of energy when your tired back begins to give out. Overall, he’s a constant reminder that this business is free-spirited and fun, as most good things are.

We tasted through the 2010′s yesterday and were astounded by the complexity and fullness of flavor on display already. In the coming weeks, the various blocks will be tasted side by side, painting an important flavor profile we’ll draw from in the future. Soon after, we’ll engage in bench trials, wherein micro-blends will be created to help determine what lots and how much of them will go into wines like the Fourmen, Treehouse and Chemeketa Pinot Noirs.

Meanwhile, the 2011′s are entering a stage not entirely unlike adolescence. Some of the wines are being tricky, defiant even, like young teenagers. This is normal, and with a little care and discipline, these wines will grow up to be truly special. The more astringent wines are being fined. Presently, we’re trying a few different agents to see which we like best. In short, fining stabilizes color and reduces the edginess of young, particularly tannic wines. For one barrel, we’re experimenting with egg whites, an age-old method used by many. For another barrel, we’re testing out PVPP, or polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (say it with me). This insoluble plastic powder helps especially with wines experiencing a bit of oxidation and discoloration.

Stirring the lees and readying the Rose for some fining.

Winter is a great time to fine for a couple of reasons. Cool cellar temperatures off a better environment for the agents – those involving protein especially – to work their magic and carry any impurities out of the wine. Additionally, for white wines and Roses, the timing is such that bottling is only four or five months away, and clarification and stabilization become increasingly important here. The name of the game, as is typically the case with additives, is “less is more.” In stabilizing these wines, it’s imperative to tread as lightly as possible. Maximum affect, minimum input, so the wine retains its natural beauty.

There are many fining agents, but none more interesting for this writer than ox blood. The blood is dehydrated and turned to powder for enological purposes. Like the egg whites approach, ox blood is hydrated some and then mixed into the wine. Apparently, blood is one of the swiftest and most powerful tools for fining, though not particularly popular these days, for a slough of reasons. As tempting as it is to try, we shall refrain this go-around.

A Photo Essay of Sorts

Figure 1: The fruit is delivered.

Figure 2: The fruit is sorted and destemmed.

Figure 3: The destemmer appears to be working.

Figure 4: The resulting fruit is weighed.

Figure 5: The fruit is transported to fermenters. 

Figure 6: Bailey looks on, intently. 

Figure 7: Smaller blocks are placed in plastic bins, larger blocks and blends in stainless steel fermenters.

Figure 8: Dave learns how to drive this.

Figure 9: Hands turn red from extensive sorting.

Figure 10: Daily sampling commences (pH, brix, temperature).

Figure 11: Vineyard Blocks are organized.

Figure 12: The must is inoculated with yeast.

Figure 13: Fermentation caps form (some so sturdy you can stand on them).

Figure 14: Pump-overs and daily punchdowns allow for proper extraction.

Figure 15: Pomace is shoveled into bins to be pressed.

Figure 16: Bailey continues to watch.

Figure 17: The wine is pressed, Rose in this case.

Figure 18: Barrels are swelled and readied for wine.

Figure 19: Barrels are stacked. 

Figure 20: Wine is barreled. 

Figure 21: Wine is often spilled (artfully, mind you).

Figure 22: More barrels are fetched.

Figure 23: Night shifts become the norm.

Figure 24: Winter shows up, harvest comes to an end.

An unusually dry November in Oregon Wine Country.

The combination of moisture and a delayed ripening schedule is a dangerous one. And, given our soggy Northwest surroundings, you typically can’t have one without the other. Especially when the timeframe you’re considering is early November.

Fortunately, the final two months of 2011 were very nice. Some of the driest days came when we needed them most, when the fruit was still hanging and the sugar levels were creeping up. The chilly evenings and calm, dry days made it very difficult for botrytis to take hold. This brand of bunch rot thrives in wetter conditions, starting at weak points in the fruit – like splits caused by wind damage or over-ripening – and spreading throughout the cluster, dehydrating the grapes en route.

Not winning any beauty pageants: Botrytis converges on a cluster               www.fei.com

When it sneaks past the sorting crew and into fermentation tanks, botrytis can steal color from a wine, sweeten the smell and create bitter, phenol flavors in the finished product. Botrytis is also notorious for complicating fermentations, killing off certain yeast strands. We saw some rot in the fruit this year, but avoided it at large thanks in part to beautiful, tightly-set clusters that left little room for rot to build a home.

Speaking of clusters, the shear size is worth mentioning. Some Vista Hills bunches were well over 400 grams in weight, and could be mistaken for small footballs. The brix levels never rose much above 22, but that was not our greatest concern. More important was the maturity of the fruit, expressed by balanced flavors, bright (but not blindingly bright) acidity, and browning stems and pips. Outside of some unripe second crop fruit and the rare rot-ridden bunch, quality is what we got.

Keep it coming: Higher yields and mammoth clusters fill the sorting table.

In addition to simple sugar and acid tests, a more involved diagnosis of the wine is carried out early in its inception. A small sample is sent to the local lab, where everything from the tartaric acid to the alpha-amino compounds is measured. It’s called a juice panel and it paints a pretty good picture of what the wine will likely become. One figure we really focused on this year was the glucose-fructose count, the two main sugar and carbohydrate sources in the fruit. Studying this measurement helped us determine the alcohol content in the finished product and how to go about getting it there.

The numbers tell a story on paper while the grapes tell a very tangible story. We sorted carefully and diligently this year, weeding out any unhealthy specimens. Discolored fruit was sampled, and if overly tart or bitter, tossed away. The earliest stages of rot can hide quite well, so we made certain to turn the clusters over and have a look at all sides. Several weeks of this makes a fruit sorter quite literally see fruit in his sleep.

In short, harvest 2011 kicked off with surprisingly healthy fruit, higher yields, and lower than average sugar counts. Crisp, dry weather meant joyous conditions on the sorting line – no bees, no earwigs, a spider here and there. There was plenty of finger twiddling in October, when welcome conditions allowed the fruit to hang, and hang, and hang. It also afforded us a chance to juggle a soccer ball on the crush pad and rest up for an onslaught of activity a few days later.

Stay tuned for Part 3.

Swelling barrels in the morning, about a week before Thanksgiving.

This coming week, we’ll revisit Harvest 2011, “one of the most exhausting and rewarding in recent history,” according to Vista Hills winemaker Dave Petterson. Stay tuned for Parts 2-5, which will recap the process and outline what to look forward to when the first of these wines is bottled and ready, come late Spring.

Down at Panther Creek, some fruit has already come in. We’ve processed about 25 tons of Pinot Noir and counting. It has been sorted, destemmed and tanked. Most of the juice has been inoculated and the building is smelling better by the day. The mornings are spent running the numbers (pH and Brix), while the afternoons have been reserved for readying equipment, fixing forklifts, and shooting hoops on the crush pad.

Conditions Friday were so good we couldn’t help but walk with a certain swagger. 

Sampling the berries in the vineyard, it doesn’t take long to realize that the fruit isn’t quite ready yet. There’s plenty of tartness and the cluster stems are still changing from green to brown. The pips (seeds) are definitely turning, becoming crisper and gaining color along the way. It’s amazing how much flavor difference there is over the course of just a few days in early autumn. This really is a pivotal stretch in the maturation of our fruit.

Constellation or young wine?  Young wine, it turns out.

Vintages Collide: 2011 juice mingles with barreled 2010 wine. 

Winemakers spend a lot of time shuffling through weather reports this time of year. Most are pleased, excited even. To call 2011 a delayed vintage is an understatement, but the best things are worth waiting for. Stay tuned for details on picking Vista Hills fruit, firing up the press, and a few words from the winemaker.

No two distant regions may be as closely related as Burgundy and the Willamette Valley. However, the two are still very independent entities. The proof is in the fact that the wineries in central France have already harvested, the 2011′s well on their way towards malolactic fermentation. The 2011 harvest was an exceptionally early one for the birthplace of Pinot Noir, however, the French fruit is typically picked well before its sibling American crop.

Alexandrine Roy of Domaine Marc Roy in Gevrey-Chambertin harvested the first week of September. Her family’s winery rests twelve miles south of Dijon and produces mostly small-batch Pinot Noir. Here in Oregon, most vintners are still at least a week away from giving the green light to harvest. That’ll make for an astonishing five-to-six-week difference in picking schedules between the two regions.

“The vines were trellised and hedged in May,” said Roy, still astonished by the early-season warmth. “It was incredible, the vegetation grew so fast, so furiously.”

“But nature balances itself,” continued Roy. “From the 13th of July, we had a fresh summer, with showers that rehydrated the vines.” The fourth-generation winemaker pulled leaves during the summer months to fight disease and aid ripening. Uneven clusters were common this year, or “milerandage,” which translates to “shot grapes.” But, like all good winemakers, Roy essentially pre-selected her fruit, dropped the weaker links and kept the best clusters for her label.

The result was a 30 percent decrease in yield, but a fruit quality that far surpasses what most are calling a slightly above average Burgundian harvest. Roy says her fruit showed less acidity and sugar this year compared to 2010, but tremendous balance and maturity (not unlike the revered 2005 vintage in central France).

“I am happy because we did fantastic work on a vintage that will be quite heterogenous,” Roy said.

When Burgundies and Oregon Pinot Noirs are tasted together, a few general distinctions can almost always be made. The New World wines tend to be more alcoholic, fruit-forward and heavier in body. The Burgundies are, generally, drier, less alcoholic and a combination of lighter and more acidic. On top of methodological differences in the cellar, climate and soil structures account for much of the flavor fluctuation.

The mountainous walls that protect either region do so differently. The Willamette Valley is set closer to the coast, but shielded by the Coastal Range, affording – normally – dryer summers than those of the Cote d’Or. In fact, the relative thinness of the Atlantic Ocean lends toward warmer coastal temperatures in France than in Oregon. Yet, Burgundy is set further inland from the ocean that the Willamette Valley is, so this is almost nullified. Geosciences Professor George Moore of Oregon State University elaborates on this in a very interesting and cleanly written report.

This year, Burgundy experienced an unusually dry spring, setting the stage for early ripening and an early crush. Above average precipitation during the summer months limited yield some, and most wineries are expecting a 20% decrease in yield. And despite all the rain, significant heat persisted through July and August, requiring many wineries to pick earlier than they have in several decades.

Opposite extremes have affected Oregon Wine Country. Bud break was a month late thanks to an extremely wet spring and summer weather really didn’t arrive until late July. Cool nights slowed ripening further. Presently, clouds and rainfall are slowing the last leg of ripening, but cluster sizes are up and the fruit looks plenty healthy.

Check out some images from Alexandrine below. You can visit her winery’s web site here.

There are several methods for keeping the starlings, finches, robins and jays out. Dr. Patty Skinkis, Viticulture Extension Specialist at Oregon State University, outlines many options in the school’s most recent issue of Vineyard Notes. Scare tactics are cheap and popular. These include reflective tape and recorded gunshot or predatory bird sounds. Skinkis notes that the birds tend to feed early (from dawn to midday), doubling the importance of getting an early start on whatever defense mechanism you choose.

Netting, by consensus, is best. Side netting in particular has grown in popularity the last few years because it covers only the fruit and allows maximum exposure for the rest of the vine (which is pulling as much energy in the form of sunlight as possible during the days before harvest). The narrower mesh of today is much tougher for the birds to penetrate. And with less of it used in the vineyard, there are less instances of birds getting tangled up. As evil as they seemed last year, the birds had nothing else to eat and were simply following their stomachs. Tempting as it was to sit beside the vineyard with a shotgun, we all agree that biodiversity and the ecological roles birds play in wine country play are just too important.

Dazzling to the eyes, harmful to the crop: European Starlings converge over a field.

Skinkis sites the importance of randomizing vineyard tactics. That way, the critters won’t have time to find a way to the fruit, whether that be through a seam in the netting or a a break in the reflective ribbon. Nature always finds away, especially when survival is at stake. Last year, added trouble came from migratory birds. They swooped in from mid to late October with nothing else to feast on and didn’t leave much for the winemakers.

With a late growing season again this year, another concern is mildew and botrytis, or “bunch rot.” Moist conditions are responsible for both and can destroy entire clusters. A dry spell – like last October – is the natural solution, strengthened even more with a little wind. Compact clusters are at greater risk as there’s less exposed surface area and more tight pockets for moisture to hide in. Minimal spraying and canopy management dries the crop, ensuring that it’s not mush by the time harvest is here.

For all the stress 2010 caused, it prepared us for harsh conditions. And based on the samples we’ve tasted, it’s going to be a charming vintage. August and September have set 2011 up for great success, but a dry spell next month is in high demand to keep things on track. Stay tuned.

Restaurants have warmed up to the concept because the wine is never exposed to oxygen. When the day is done, there is no need to gas up half-empty bottles for use the next day. The pours, they argue, are cleaner and it saves the wait staff or sommelier the potential anxiety of opening a bottle in front of an audience.

The standard model is the Cornelius keg, which holds five gallons, or approximately 25 regular 750 mL bottles of wine. This has become a fairly popular option for sparkling wines, which hold on to their effervescence given the airtight storage. In terms of environmental impact, proponents site the over two cases’ worth of glass, cork and labels involved in standard bottling methods. The ability to clean and refill the kegs has lured people in as well.

Watching a bartender pull foamless red liquid from a tap remains an odd sight, but one that has grown in frequency over the last few years. The ritual of opening a bottle at a fine restaurant may never leave us, but with the influx of better box technology and now kegs, the culture of wine vessels is changing.

Our neighbors at Winter’s Hill went the way of the keg with some of their wines last summer. Among other things, they tout the savings involved, from the sharp decrease in packaging materials to lower fuel costs (because the wine ends being lighter with no glass and cardboard involved). Of course, the green side of the coin is a plus as well, especially here in the Pacific Northwest where organics, biodynamics and sustainability are household concepts.

Be on the lookout for draft wine in a city near you.