Harvest 2015 is set to begin this week and it bears similarities to last year. Another early harvest following a warm growing season had us concerned that sugars would rise too quickly out pacing flavor development and potentially having wines being a little thin with high alcohol. However, the recent rains and the return of more moderate temps particularly at night have slowed ripening down and the flavors are coming along. The clusters are heavy this year and we paid close attention to crop estimates and working with our winery partners to insure the tons per acre stayed within quality parameters. Enough of the semi tech stuff, but it’s the kind of stuff we get excited about. Major props to Dustin, Carlos and the rest of the crew that did a fantastic job of staying ahead in a rapid growing season getting all the jobs done in a timely manner. There will be some fantastic wines this year and we are anxious to begin. Dan
Tag Archives: Dan’s updates
Spring Update
Winter has come and gone and the miracle of bud break has once again occurred. It is so rewarding to see baby shoots emerging with tiny clusters following the emerging leaves. After all the work of pruning the vines it just doesn’t get old watching the vineyard come alive. Bud break happened on March 25 a good two weeks earlier than average. The next major developmental date of note is bloom which occurred on June 9 in 2014 if we are to draw comparisons to this year. I will stop short of saying we will have an early and glorious harvest this year since this is farming and I don’t wish to temp the wrath of nature, but things do look good.
Lest I forget, FHV was pleased to have been the focus of a tasting of wines made from our fruit at the Ace Hotel in Portland on March 12. There was an afternoon session before media, distributors, and restaurant people numbering about 35. Dan and Helen described the development of the vineyard and Jesse Lange, Ken Wright, and Mark Vlossak presented approximately 15 vineyard designate wines. Ken also made a nice presentation on the soils of the Willamette Valley. In the evening there was a general tasting where about 100 of the consuming public met the Dusschee’s, and winemakers from almost all of the producers while tasting some terrific wines. We were thrilled and honored at the experience and were once again reminded of our good fortune to be associated with such good winemakers/people and the people who enjoy fine wine.
I hope you all enjoy your summer as we will in anticipation of vintage 2015.
Harvest Update from Dan
Harvest is nearing it’s end and we are all ready for it to be done. In terms of weather harvest was a continuation of the entire growing season, we began picking September 11 a full two weeks earlier than ever before in hot and dusty conditions. As we watched the fruit ripen there was a concern that with higher than normal temperatures the sugar would rise too quickly, the acid would fall out, pH would rise and winemakers would have their heads explode. From a simple wine drinkers point of view I thought we might have high alcohol wines that had a “hole” in the middle palate. However, the flavors developed in the grapes and it appears the winemakers heads will remain intact as they are all predicting wonderful wines. Generally speaking , yields within the industry were higher than normal. At FHV most of our pinot came in at 3-3.25 tons per acre perhaps slightly more than normal, but we believe the wines will reflect the intensity of color and character commonly found in FHV wines. Total tons harvested will be about 235 down slightly from 2013. We were fortunate to have our daughter McKenzie and daughter in law, Katie join us at harvest along with two new grandchildren. The harvest crew managed by Dustin and Carlos did a fantastic job and we were able to get out of the vineyard by late morning or early afternoon, thereby by preserving low fruit temperature which is desirable in the initial fermentation process. I hope you all enjoy the vintage, it should be exceptional. Dan
Harvest to Present
Thought I would write a few notes about the season at Freedom Hill Vineyard, the website and maybe some random thoughts. I’m grateful to the efforts of Helen and McKenzie along with the professional guidance of Elizabeth Schrader Design in updating our website and creating a platform that is more current and interesting. From time to time I am liable to enter an update offering perspective from an old grape grower’s point of view.
The harvest of 2013 was unlike any I remember. It was a beautiful growing season and then the Valley received over 6” of rain during the last weekend of September with only a few tons in the fermenter. This event changed the intensity levels of the wine maybe producing wines similar to 1997, although I defer to our winemakers for future comparisons. We ended up harvesting 225 tons from 71 acres with the fruit being in sound condition.
The winter was marked by the famous “Polar Vortex” that brought two incidents of unusually low temperatures to the area. In both instances Helen and I had the good fortune to be on vacation leaving Dustin to cope with broken pipes and baby grape plants awaiting planting. He performed well and we were able to plant 6.25 acres of Pinot Noir this spring with plans in 2015 for 8 more acres divided between Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Bud break and bloom were early and it appears harvest should commence the third or fourth week in September. The crop is large and within two weeks we will have the data available, cluster counts and weights, to make informed decisions regarding how many clusters to remove to target the final crop load of the winemakers. Typically, we aim for a yield of approximately three tons per acre.
Hope you find our postings of interest and they help you connect with the remarkable wines produced by the talented winemakers we are honored to work with.
