2009 Vintage – Climbing up, punching down

The harvest may be over, but fermentations are in full swing.  Punching down 9 tanks and 81 bins full of warm bubbly Pinot noir three times a day,  every day…

2009 Harvest – Break for lunch!

Some say the best thing about harvest is lunch time!  Marilyn cooks for the crew almost every day, with occasional breaks for a guest chef.  Salmon chowder with bacon was such a big hit that we posted the recipe on our web site recipe archive.  Bon appetit!

2009 Harvest – Flipping 480 Boxes

480 boxes flipped since September 28:  Dump, sort, destem, repeat…

480 boxes flipped (240 tons), September 28 – October 17, 2009

2009 Harvest – Picking 480 boxes, bucket by bucket

480 boxes = 240 tons, bucket by bucket…

Ah Spring……Time to Dry Your Wings and Look for Road Kill

Terry captured these two turkey vultures drying their wings, perched on vineyard end posts at Bethel Heights one early April morning when the sun favored us with an appearance.  The vultures arrived in the Willamette Valley punctually, around the middle of March.  One day you look up into the sky and there they are, four or five or more, catching thermals, soaring around in circles for hours, scouting the countryside looking for lunch.  They have really good eyesight and a highly developed sense of smell which makes them very good at what they do.  And thinking about the smell part leads me to say there are some things about turkey vultures you really don’t want to know.  I sort of stopped reading when I found our about the tendency to urinate on their legs and the vomiting part.  But hey,  every species has its quirks and they do their part to keep the neighborhood cleaned up and smelling springtime fresh.

Marilyn

Observer of vineyard life

Winery Pets (AKA Keri’s Assistants)

Keri and friends

Jelly Bean the rescue cat loves Keri, our bookkeeper.  She used to sit on Keri’s chair, lap, sometimes her keyboard.  Then came Tony, the Pug. 

The New Guy

Now everybody shares.  The next time you visit, and if it’s during business hours, come find our office and meet the dynamic duo, JellyBean and Tony.  Keri will introduce you.

From Jelly Bean’s second favorite and her chair,

Marilyn Webb

Bethel Heights – Priceless!

 Email communication from two young friends, recently married:

Riverfront cabin on the McKenzie River – $89

Dinner for two, fireside – $50

A bottle of Justice Vineyard enjoyed with the one you love, an amazing dinner, fireside, with river roaring outside the window – PRICELESS!

Thanks for helping create another amazing memory Bethel Heights! We LOVE ya!

Patti & Ernest Hughes

Love from Alabama

 

Tom Miller and Mallie (born in 1999)

Last week I received this email from our old friend Tom Miller of Birmingham, Alabama:  

Pat, Please share this with the gang.  I am SSSOOOOOOOOOO glad my little girl was born in 1999 AND I had money back then.

1999 Bethel Heights Southeast Block Reserve Pinot noir: (13%); pulled and poured; After figuring out that I had not opened a bottle of this wine since purchasing it in 2002, I decided it was about time.  Crystal clear, medium dark ruby color; on the nose, hints of dark cherries and maybe a touch of menthol or eucalyptus (?); on the palate, there is a eruption of dark fruits balanced with nice acidity and integrated tannins…the eucalyptus is still present but adds a certain nuance to the overall experience; after 45 minutes, the eucalyptus blew off, tears of extract were running down the glass and the finish lengthened nicely.  Why did I wait so long?  Fortunately I have many 750s, six magnums and one three-liter left of this beauty…woo hoo!  Simply exquisite with the coriander crusted salmon topped with a fennel crab salad… [3-4-09]

I am also proud to say that the first wine we had in our new house back on April 11, 1998 was my second to last bottle of 1991 Southeast Block Reserve.  Fortunately, I still have a bottle each of the 1991 and 1992 Southeast Block and Flat Block Reserves (with the old school labels) left in the cellar…but I’d better drink them up I’d guess.

My best to all, Tom

Thomas H. Miller

Depletion Specialist, Just Pinot, LLC  

pinot@bellsouth.net  

Tom Miller has been a friend of Bethel Heights and a great ambassador for Oregon wines since he started coming out here for the International Pinot Noir Celebration, way back in the late 80’s.  Over the years he has had a lot to do with making Birmingham one of the great Oregon Pinot towns in the country – no exaggeration! He has also had much to do with the great success of Birmingham’s TumTum Tree Foundation Wine Auction, now in its 20^th year benefiting the children of Alabama.  www.tumtumtreefoundation.org

Tom’s personal wine cellar includes a remarkable collection of Oregon Pinot noir going back to the early 90’s, and he keeps good notes on the wines he opens.  His reviews on some of Bethel Heights’ older vintages will soon be posted on our website.

Pat Dudley 

Return of Bethel Heights Black Label

Bethel Heights 2007 Pinot Noir Estate Grown (aka the Black Label Pinot) is finally released! The 2006 Estate Pinot was sold out months ago, but we held back the release of the 2007 until now, instead of releasing in November as we did in 2006.  That’s because 2007 was a cool, classic Oregon vintage – slower to open up, but with great promise for long life.

2007 in Oregon was similar to 2005 (and 1999 and 2001) and very different from 2006 (our hottest vintage on record).   In 2007, the summer provided adequate heat to ripen the fruit, and the fall finished cool, allowing the grapes to fully express their varietal character without losing acidity and without accumulating excessively amounts of sugar, as Pinot noir tends to do in hot vintages.

However, periods of rain at the end of the season meant that 2007 was a year when it definitely made a difference to have well drained soils, mature vines, and years of experience in the vineyard and the winery. 

Our thirty-year-old vines at Bethel Heights have deep reserves to draw on when skies turn grey, so they can go the extra distance at the end of the season, bringing their fruit to maturity rather than stopping short at green flavors.

In the vineyard, 2007 was tricky.  Nice weather at bloom produced a large crop that had to be severely thinned to achieve optimum ripening.  Just the usual thinning back to one cluster per shoot wasn’t enough.  This is where thirty years of experience in the vineyard paid off:  Ted had his crew thin the crop three times.  The final thinning took off wings and shoulders from the clusters, very picky work, but this is one of the details that makes a difference in a cool vintage. When the fall turned rainy and cool, Ted again sent the crew through the vineyard to pull more leaves around the fruit, as a hedge against botrytis, and to get more sun on the fruit.  In the end the extra effort gave us clean ripe grapes that could weather the rain.

And finally, 2007 was a year when years of experience in the winery also paid off.  The decision when to pick is the most critical decision of every vintage. You are not just waiting for the Brix to reach some magic number, you’re really waiting for the final stage of flavor development, which is more a matter of hang time than anything else – it can happen at 20 Brix or it can happen at 25 Brix. The only way to know you have it is to taste it, and you have to have the courage to trust your palate and wait for the flavors, even when the first of the big fall rainstorms is on the horizon.

There are people (especially those who live in warmer regions) who think rain at harvest spells disaster for a vintage.  But the truth is, it often rains during harvest season in Oregon.  It is one of the reasons we plant our vineyards on hillsides in the first place; drying out quickly after rain is what our famous well drained hillside soils are good for.  If your fruit is clean and your vines are mature, you can safely wait to pick during the windows of dry weather between rain events – which is what we did in 2007.

When the fruit was finally picked, Ben and Terry agreed that 2007 was not a year to ferment whole clusters, so the fruit was completely de-stemmed before the cold soak. During fermentation it was punched down only twice a day instead of three times – 2007 was not a year for heavy extraction.

In the end, 2007 gave us wines with moderate alcohol, bright acidity, and pure fruit character.  As Ben said, “2007 needed very little intervention in the winery.  The work was all done in the vineyard.”

Asked to compare 2007 to 2006, Ben said:  “In Oregon 2002, 2003, and 2006 were all hot vintages: big and lush.  Great for wine bars.  Not necessarily great with food.  For new Pinot drinkers, these hot vintages serve as a transition from the Big Reds to classic Pinot noir like 2005 and 2007.  Classic cool vintage Pinot noir has more acid, less alcohol, and wants to be paired with food to be appreciated. It is also more ageworthy, when the fruit is there, for the same reasons:  more acid, less alcohol.”

The trade-off for ageability is that these wines take a little longer to open up than the hot vintages, which are often ready to show off as soon as they are bottled.  That’s why we held back the release of the 2007 Estate Pinot until January, instead of releasing in November as we did in 2006.  You can taste where it’s going if you let it open up in the glass for a half hour, or open the bottle 24 hours ahead – or better yet, decant. 

The 2007 Pinots are made for food.  Mimi says:  “They won’t compete with beautifully prepared food, but rather lift it up.  They become part of the symphony of the meal, compared to the prima donna soloist wine bar pinots from hot vintages.  With 2007 you don’t have to build the meal around the wine; you can count on the wine to play the perfect harmonic backup to the meal.”

What the critics say:

Jay Miller, The Wine Advocate (October 2008):

The vast majority of [Oregon’s] 2006s are enjoyable now, but Burgundy fans who prize elegance will have to wait for one more year when what looks to be a superb 2007 vintage is released . . . Although there was never a clear window for picking, with some growers continuing to harvest well into October, the results were terrific.  This was not immediately apparent but after malolactic fermentation was complete, almost everyone was thrilled with what they achieved.  These wines will be lower in alcohol than the 2006 but with better concentration, more elegance, and very good aging potential.  In other words, it will be a vintage to please both the intellect and the senses. 

Harvey Steiman, The Wine Spectator (December 31, 2008):

For those who like Oregon’s white wines and were fans of the lighter-weight 2004 and 2005 Pinots, 2007 will not be the disappointment it looked like it might be.  Despite all the rain, good producers made ’07s that won’t embarrass anyone.  

Just a little further up Bethel Heights Road

 

Kate and Baylie selecting Christmas trees for harvest

About a half mile up the road past Bethel Heights Vineyard, directly above Temperance Hill Vineyard, is the Feldman family tree farm.  And that’s where you can find our tasting room and Cellar Club manager, Kate Crowe (née Feldman) and her daughter Baylie these days, getting ready for the Christmas Tree harvest.  Visitors to Bethel Heights know Kate as the very personification of hospitality in our tasting room, but there is more to Kate than meets the eye.  We finally convinced her to tell you a bit about the other side of her life:

I have spent the last 14 years working part time in the Bethel Heights tasting room.  I get an immense amount of satisfaction pouring wine and visiting with guests from all over the globe.  I have told many visitors that it is how I travel.  It’s great for me because I can learn about so many different places and not have to leave my neighborhood. (I am not a great traveler anyway.) 

Looking down at neighboring vineyards from Feldman tree farm high above

 

 

 

 

Speaking of my neighborhood, what many of you who have met me in the tasting room may not know is that I grew up right here in the Bethel Heights neighborhood.  It is such a beautiful area and a perfect place to raise kids that my husband and I moved back to the farm I grew up on 15 years ago.  My mom and dad were gradually working their way toward retirement and decided they needed someone to run the Christmas tree operation that my family started in 1976.  I seemed to be a good fit since I had continued to work on the farm helping with harvest and other tasks after I had married and started my family.

Oak savannah preserved!

 

 

We own 350 acres of land here in the beautiful Eola Hills, 45 of it is in Christmas trees. My role is to manage the Christmas trees while my father manages the 150 acres of timber that is on the property. He has also recently started an oak savannah restoration project of which he is extremely proud. About 2 years ago after becoming a certified tree farm we learned that we had a piece of property that was one of the last oak savannahs in the Eola Hills.  There are many species of wildflowers growing there that are considered extremely endangered here in the Willamette Valley.  

Grazing cows complete the ecosystem

 

 

 

 

 

 

My father was a bit hesitant at first about starting the project thinking that we may not be able to allow our cows or my small flock of sheep to graze in that area.  But after discussion with the gentleman from Oregon State University that is guiding us with the project we learned that it is very healthy to have grazing animals on the piece of property because it does not allow the grasses to die and build up. Thus, allowing the wildflowers to germinate.  That was exciting news because I was not about to give up my flock of sheep!

Trees the old-fashioned way

 

 

We have always tried to be good stewards of our property by using the “old” farming practices. (Now being called “sustainable farming practices”).  We use little or no pesticide and herbicide on our trees or around our property.  I have had visiting tree farmer’s comment on the amount of weeds we have in our trees or the bees that they see buzzing through the fields.  I just smile and ask them how many times a year they have to spray for aphids or other nasty insects that can damage the trees?  Their answer is usually “as many times as we need too”.  My answer to them is “we never need to”.  The bees take care of the aphids; the skunks take care of the bees and so on and so forth.  The fields don’t always look as well groomed as theirs but I think the weeds are beautiful!

Kate's dog Tipper would love to help you find a perfect Christmas tree

 

 

 

I guess the marketing part of me is now kicking in and I want to invite you to visit our farm and pick up an extremely fresh cut, pesticide free Christmas tree for your holiday décor!  We grow Noble fir and Douglas fir and have all sizes available, and wreaths as well.  We will be open from 9:00 to 5:00 daily from November 28 through December 21. We also give walking tours of our tree farm: just call ahead and be prepared to hike! You can contact me at (503) 363-9919 or kate@feldmantreefarm.com.

I’m second generation on our farm and hope that one day one of our children, Josh, Ethan or Baylie (most likely the latter) will be interested in a role here when I am ready to retire.  I think that may come quicker than I think!

Tasting room manager Kate signing off!