Oregon vineyards report high yields & quality
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- It may turn out to be a very good year for Oregon vineyards.
Final numbers are still pending, but the state's vineyards are reporting good yields, volume and quality for 2009.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service said crop yields were higher in the Willamette Valley than in 2008, when overall production dropped after three years of booming growth.
At Domaine Margelle Vineyards near Silverton, workers picked about 20 tons of grapes in just over two hours to wrap up the harvest.
The 50-acre property, nestled in the foothills of the eastern Willamette Valley, sits at a higher elevation than most vineyards, so the harvest is usually a couple of weeks later, said vineyard manager Alonzo Martinez.
The lower temperature affects the growth stages of the fruit, and the grapes take longer to ripen.
Anticipating a late harvest, vineyards will need to spray a copper antifungal mixture on vines throughout the summer to keep the grapes from splitting and developing a fungus when the rain starts in October.
"If we don't do our job at spraying the whole vineyard, we could easily lose all this fruit since it's late harvest," Martinez said.
At the family-owned Piluso Vineyard and Winery just outside Aumsville, owners Pinky and Sandee Piluso were part of the picking crew.
Sandee Piluso, the vintner of the husband-and-wife team, graduated from the Chemeketa Community College viticulture and enology program. She schedules the picking day by watching grape quality and studying meteorological data.
"You look at the long-term weather system, pick a day, and then you pray," Piluso said.
About six pickers work in the course of one day to pick five clones of pinot noir, the Willamette Valley's flagship varietal grape. The same family of laborers, who also work for Pudding River Wine Cellars, has been picking Piluso wine grapes for about five years.
Piluso said 2009 will be a good vintage.
"Like a chef using different spices, it's different every year," she said.