As you can see by a glance below, the news isn’t exactly hot off the press. The fix for that is new news.

June 1 2020

Gratification delayed, but reward beer accomplished!

Last Thursday was crazy hot, 95 degrees. Of course, reward beer seemed like an especially good plan but dragging my profusely sweaty self through a public place in the age of covid-19 did not.

Yesterday, Sunday, spring temperatures were far more normal, mid 60’s. After a nice 30 mile ride, I rolled into Red Hills Market and found an outdoor seat well away from other dinners. The Market is using its ample outdoor seating to good advantage and crowds, socially distanced, are back. A Hand sanitizer station greets everyone at the door and employees are masked and gloved. The mood is as light as spring, strangers in line chatting across the social distance.

I ordered a Pelican Red and headed back outside and relaxed. This is the first sit down in public beer I have enjoyed since the shutdown began about mid March. Ah, bliss!

May 28, 2020

Like most of the world, we have been hiding out from the dread virus. Good news is that Yamhill County is now in phase one reopening. I’m going to put this to the test this afternoon by stopping in at the Red Hills Market after I put in 20 miles or so on the bicycle for a reward beer. That option hasn’t been exersiced (beer reward, not bike ride, pun intended) for over two months. WIll advise how that goes – beer reward, not bike ride.

May 3, 2020

The big news of the moment is all about the global pandemic. Since other more newsy outlets have that covered, I’m going no farther than my back yard.

Right now, the vineyard is the star of the show. The time when our vineyard plants emerge from dormancy is called ‘bud break’ and was pretty much right on schedule, April 15. The exact time of bud break depends on micro-climate, particularly elevation. Lower vineyards tend to pop first, higher elevation, a few days later. On our hike, will observe the effect of elevation, whether it is cane growth or fruit development. The picture below is from April 16.

October 2012

I’ve tasted the new wine and it is largely dry. Fermentation is still active but I like to finish off the last 3-5 Brix in the protected environment of a glass carboy.

Pressing is a messy business. The process begins by sanitizing everything and ends by hosing out the garage and finally, a trip trough the shower for me. I’ll set my waterproof, drop-proof, freeze-proof video camera on a tripod and attempt to record the process for my Youtube channel…

October 11, 2012

Yes! The stars aligned for vintage 2012.

Growing Pinot Noir in Oregon is white knuckle farming but year after year, the match of cool climate vinifera to the Willamette valley proves out. It’s just that nail bighter vintages like 2010 & 11 are hard to live through. That makes beautiful summers like 2012 even more of a joy.

The fruit came in on Thursday, October 11. I would have let it hang a bit longer but stacked up storms barreling across the Pacific Ocean promised trouble. It turned out to be a good call. The next day brought heavy rain.

The usual suspects helped bring in the harvest. In spite of a less than perfect set, quantities were good. Even better, a long, late summer dry spell concentrated flavors and contributed to perfect fruit. Sugar measured 24.8 brix. Flavors tasted fantastic, perhaps the best ever from my now 12 year old vines. We filled the 15 gallon fermentor to capacity and I added sulfite to reach 30ppm.

With exceptional fruit in the fermentor, we breathed a sigh of relief and enjoyed a post harvest dinner. Then I changed farmer hat for winemaker beret…

October 16 2012

This winemaker is darn happy.

I let the crushed grapes (must) rest in my garage winery. Ice packs on the fermentor lid cooled the must further to slow spontaneous fermentation from the natural yeast found on every grape skin.

Five days later, I brought out the heater, placed the fermentor on an insulated pad and began warming the must for yeast inoculation in the evening.

I use Champagne Pasteur yeast for my Pinot Noir. The book (From Vines to Wines) recommends this yeast to prevent problems with SO2 gas generation. I’ve used it with good results since 2002.

After harvesting and crushing the fruit, red wine benefits from a cold soak. The fruit and juice, now considered must, is allowed to sit without beginning fermentation. A dose of meta-bisulfate stuns the natural yeast and suppresses the growth of other micro-flora. The juice, skins, seeds and sometimes whole clusters of fruit steep quietly, consolidating flavors, tannin and color. I let my fifteen gallons of must rest for five days. Bubbles around the edge of the fermentor are a clue that indigenous yeasts are stirring and a sign that it’s time to introduce the pro-team, a culture of wine specific yeast.

The first step is to warm the must and make it ready for the culture. I’ve kept the fermentor sitting on cold concrete with ice packs on the lid. Now it’s resting on a comfy pad of foam insulation and an electric heater warms things up.

By evening, we’re ready to go. I prep the yeast by a warm water bath. When the dry cells falls to the bottom of an oversized measuring cup, I add a scoop measure of juice and skins to the yeast. A bit over an hour later, things are cookin’. Then the active culture is added to the must.

In the morning, the must is actively working into wine. A cap of grape skins is shoved to the top of the fermentation and must be stirred back into the wine twice a day. This operation is called the punch down. Bad micro-organisms can grow on the dry skins and incorporating them back into the must transfers color into the wine. Fermentation can last from as little as ten days to as long as two weeks.