I had the opportunity to fulfill an old dream last Monday. I was invited my a friend to go with him to pick grapes at a private vineyard in Oregon's Willamette Valley. We picked 1200 pounds of Pomard (a Pinot Noir clone) and Pinot Noir grapes . This size pick will produce a sixty gallon barrel, which translates into 24 cases of 750ml bottles. Needless to say it was a thrill. All in all between the pick and the crush it took us about five hours. Of course there was lunch in between as well as around five bottles of the 2005 unlabeled stock from Don the owner, who just kept reappearing with another bottle or two. What a guy.
There is a great story to tell and it just may be a feature in this Blog, because the parting words were, welcome to the club. I guess that would partially be due to a 40% buy in to a barrel. I would have bought more bu that is all that would be allowed this year. All other allocations were taken. I will put my bid in for a full barrel next year. Actually it was a bit of a miracle that I could get in on this go round, since I joined in so late in the game. The general feeling is that it won't be a record wine due to the lack of good weather this year, but we did take all premium grapes so it should be a resrve for this year. 18 months from now should tell the tale, who knows. The one thing about making wine is that it is a gamble. You sweat bullets for the duration until bottling.
Next Sunday we will press three barrels of wine that was picked earlier. Into the barrel it will go for a good 17 month sleep. A tasting is upcoming so look forward to the news.
