Oregon Harvest Report

With patience being a great virtue in winemaking, and a very late season which required a bit of patience, not much fruit was picked in Oregon until at least until the end of the first week of October.

Considering a bud break that was 3 weeks late and bloom that was equivalently late, hangtimes predicted that harvest would not commence until at least the first week of October anyway. The average hangtime between bloom and harvest for Pinot noir is in the 105-115 day range.

Although it is dangerous to draw parallels or predict quality levels at this stage, most folks have been struck by the coolness and lateness similarities of 2008 to two of Oregon's best vintages, 1993 and 1999.
 
Harry Peterson-Nedry of Chehalem commented, "The ferments from early harvested blocks have amazingly deep fruit and color extraction for the coolness of the growing season. Most flavors are on the verge of being there: the sugars are amazingly moderate (i.e., not too low, not too high--just right) and promise lower alcohols; the acids are moderate as well, which is a surprise and possibly lower than expected due to heat spikes when the warmth finally did come late summer and the chemistry-adjusting inch of rain in early October. We're conservatively excited right now."

Alex Sokol Blosser of Sokol-Blosser said in mid-October, "We are about 60 percent done with bringing in grapes and should be done by the end of next week barring any cataclysmic rain event.  Our first day of picking was September 30th, and we brought in about 10 tons of Pinot Noir from our estate from a place that is a hot spot and always ripens first. We expect to wrap it up by the third week of October.  It's too soon to tell quality, but I have noticed the following: very clean fruit from a low mildew year, and great maturity at low brix! We had to get out and do additional sprays after the rains to keep boytritis at bay but the rains slowed things down and allowed for some more hang time for our Pinot. I think the mid-90s was the last time I can remember seeing this kind of maturity at 22.5 to 22.7 brix. It will be a low alcohol year and we'll see how the flavors develop but I like what I taste in the berries."

Rollin Soles of Argyle thinks it will be a great sparkling wine vintage.  "Sparkling grapes were almost all in the first week of October. Some of the finest I've seen in 22 years. I love making fizz from late harvested, low-cropped sparkling fruit. ... Weather dependent, will hang the fruit out until next week. What has been received has amazingly dark color, and seems to be fermenting up nicely."

According to David Adelsheim, success was reached in Oregon vineyards that kept the tonnage to 2 tons per acre or under. As of the 18th of October, all his fruit was in.
 
He thinks the quality level will be at least "normal", maybe above that.
 
"Rain did affect the grapes," he said, "but we easily sorted out the miniscule amount of rot and there doesn't seem to be significant dilution."  He added, " The wines coming out of fermenter have roundness and a sweet middle, certain no harsh astringency."

At Ponzi Vineyards, Luisa Ponzi is not yet finished with harvesting all her grapes.

As of October 23, she had about 80 percent of her fruit in.  Ponzi said, "Still plenty of Pinot out there and a week of sunshine in the forecast! I expect to wrap it up by the end of next week (October 31)."

She continues, "The quality is soooo beautiful!  Intense color, flavor...low alcohol."

When asked if the rain affected the grapes, she replied, "As always, those vineyards that were not diligently farmed early in the season suffered a bit.  Thinning, spray intervals and leaf pulling were crucial.  I have not seen a bit of botrytis from our vineyards, thankfully!"

She concluded, "This is far more than an acceptable vintage...I'm thinking it is a lot like '99, but prettier.

The Umpqua Valley hasn't see much rain; 3.58 inches since April 1st in fact.

Earl Jones of Abacela Vineyards is almost euphoric about the 2008 vintage.   All his fruits looks, "Excellent! Beautiful harvest with outstanding Albariño, Tempranillo, Port, Syrah, Malbec, Grenache, etc. We have some young vine Tannat that looks excellent in the fermentor."  Jones continued, "All estate fruit has been picked but we still await some Tempranillo and a little bit of Malbec for purchased fruit from hillside grower sites." 

Abacela is almost through harves.  Jones said, "We are 97 percent finished with intake of fruit, 60 percent finished with pressing and 45 percent has been barreled down."
 
He summed it up for his region, "We had a great vintage thanks to the warm southern Oregon climate, a south slopping hillside site (we escaped the frost of 9-12 Oct without incident), good farming, a dry climate and irrigation linked to soil moisture and leaf pressure bomb measurements. Andrew Wenzel, our new winemaker (but he has been at Abacela for 5 plus years) has done a great job in his first year of full responsibility as winemaker."

Unlike the more northern regions, further south in the Rogue Valley, a cold snap ended the grape harvest a bit prematurely.

Growers in Jackson and Josephine counties say temperatures over the weekend of October 9-12 dove into the mid-20s and dropped even further in some spots.

There will likely be damage in the Applegate Valley for growers who didn't have frost protection and in low areas of Jackson County.

In summary, Jesse Lange of Lange Estate got it right for the Willamette Valley. "This is the kind of harvest our friend David Lett would have loved," said Lange. "Late in the year. Cool, fresh and dry with perfect fruit, even ripeness and flavors that will blow your mind. What a great tribute to Papa Pinot*."

* David Lett, known as Papa Pinot--the father of Pinot noir in the Willamette Valley--died October 9th, 2008