Welcome to the Dundee Hills

Domaine Drouhin Oregon: According to Veronique Drouhin-Boss, the 2008 vintage is a star. “The fruit looks good, taste good, and is now wine. It tastes delicious! As always with great vintages, we only wish there was more. Mais, c’est la vie. I can’t think of a vintage in Oregon that I’ve seen like this, but in Burgundy, it might be similar to ’78. Those wines were and still are delicious today, if you can find them. Again, another small crop that we wish was larger. We’ll see!”

Torii Mor Winemaker Jacques Tardy says: “At first I thought we were not going to have a harvest… no spring to speak of, average July and August, then September came… and October too… sunny and dry just about everyday! The forecasters first gave us a good week from the 6th to the 11th and we thought hell was going to break loose… and then everyday they changed the prediction to show more sunshine and dry weather, and we basically had as much sunshine as we wanted. None of us dared to dream of such a great October! All in all the harvest was fast and furious when we thought we only had one good week to bring all the fruit, then we started to slow down when it was clear that Mother Nature was on our side. The wines should be rich and fruity, with a little more tannic backbone than the last few years, the grapes have thick skins, and the clusters were small, similar to 1999. We will know more in a month or so.”

At Westrey Wine Company, winemaker/owner Amy Wesselman says this vintage is “my favorite since I began making wine ... It’s definitely reflective of the great 1999 with the same drama and nail biting that only a cool climate winegrower understands.”

Among the last to pick in the Dundee Hills, as always, is White Rose. With an elevation of over 800 ft and old vines, the estate vineyard is able to withstand picking pressures longer than most. GM Gavin Joll reports that the winery brought in fruit as late as October 30, but is as thrilled with the potential as his earlier neighbors. “We let the fruit hang and hang, and are very pleased with the decision,” he says. “The fruit looked great and it snuck in before the rains.”

And the rains finally came on November 3, with a full week ahead of daily drizzle that signaled the beginning of winter and the closing bell for Oregon’s harvest.

Harvest in the Dundee Hills is 50-70% complete. Rain has finally materialized, but will dissipate by late afternoon. Picking will resume tomorrow and reach crescendo later this week. The cool temperatures continue and many see this break in the weather as a welcome respite.

“This is the kind of harvest our friend David Lett would have loved,” said Jesse Lange of Lange Estate. “Late in the year. Cool, fresh and dry with perfect fruit, even ripeness and flavors that will blow your mind. What a great tribute to Papa Pinot.”

Winemakers across the Dundee Hills are smiling, and with good reason. “Two weeks ago, I was extremely nervous because we were so far behind our 2007 pick dates,” admits Erath Winemaker Gary Horner who, with winemakers across the AVA, saw early October grapes lagging in ripeness and maturity from the late spring. “But the fruit is fabulous! We’ve seen flavor development at lower temperatures, the color has kicked in and we have acids and brix levels consistent with a classic Oregon vintage.”

Vineyard Managers are equally thrilled with the quality of the fruit. “In over 20 years farming the Dundee Hills, I’ve never seen fruit that tastes this good this late in the year, and this solid,” says Buddy Beck, President of Advanced Vineyard Systems who oversees the viticulture at DePonte, Vista Hills and several other Dundee Hills estate wineries.

Allen Holstein, Vineyard Manager for Stoller Vineyard and Argyle’s Knudsen, two of the Dundee Hills’ largest and most renowned vineyards, echoes Buddy’s enthusiasm: “Yields are right where we want them at around 2.5 tons per acre on the Pinots and no one is complaining! We had light rain in early October after a long, dry spell which caused some of the small berries to split, but we’d opened up the canopy by thinning leaves at the grape zone and they didn’t soak up the water. Weather has been cold so we’ve dodged the bullet as far as rot is concerned.”

“Cold indeed!” reports Eleni Papadakis Associate Winemaker at Domaine Serene where the winery and estate vineyards are frequently above the morning fog line. “The fruit has been arriving in pristine condition partly due to this weather. In fact, the grapes have been so cold that our sorters at the crush pad are wearing two pairs of gloves. Our estate fruit is still to be harvested and the quality of the Pinots is superb. Chardonnay is about a week out as we’re just moving into the tea flavors. We’ll be sampling again at the end of the week. Why hurry when we have this perfect weather?”

Winemakers are ecstatic with day after day of cool, dry weather, driving vineyard managers to distraction as they postpone picking as long as possible. The weather forecast has been particularly variable with predictions changing frequently, often by the hour.

“The weatherman is playing with us, so we’re playing along too,” says Leigh Bartholomew, Vineyard Manager at Archery Summit. “Rain forecast midweek didn’t materialize, so winemakers pushed back picking to take advantage of the extra hangtime. It hasn’t been easy to schedule crews and winemakers have been known to cancel the next day’s pick. But who can blame them?” She credits lower yields and slow ripening to the intensely concentrated flavors, and firmly believes that this bodes well for quality. “We’re seeing lower sugar levels along the lines of 2005, yet with physiological maturity in the fruit. It’s exciting!”

At The Four Graces Black Family Estate vineyard at the entrance to Dundee, General Manager Anthony Van Nice echoes the positive sentiment. “We’re extremely impressed with the fruit and it’s certainly not too early to predict stellar wines from the 2008 vintage,” he reports. “With this great grape weather, we have the luxury of time on our side and using every day to our advantage. Pickers are moving from lower to higher elevations, meaning that our Reserve blocks and Pinot Gris will come in around October 23.”

Cliff Anderson, Anderson Family Vineyards, the northernmost vineyard in the Dundee Hills AVA reports: “This is the latest harvest we've seen. The weather has been miraculous. Vines are still holding on past when they usually have begun to go dormant. The fruit coming in is fully ripe, delicious and full of flavor from the long hang-time. With the cool summer and late harvest we have bright acids, low alcohols and the potential for some spectacular wines. We've harvested Pinot Gris, about half the Chardonnay and just started (one block) on the Pinot noir (which hit the magic 24 brix right on the button). We expect to bring in the rest of the crop over the next several days. Likely finish day is Wednesday - an amazing October 22nd!"