Remarkably the sun came out in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and has prevailed over the occasional misty rain drift from the Pacific for the past 16 days.
The coolest and latest vintage of the Oregon wine industry’s short history received the last moment filtered sunlight required to elevate sugars, colours and flavours out of the “failed to ripen” zone into potentially a refined and successful vintage.
We harvested the Tunkalilla Vineyard Riesling and the young Pinot for Cristom on the 27th of October, one day later than the nearly as cool 2010 vintage.
While we wait to fly out of Portland into the apparent Qantas chaos at LAX to hopefully board QF 94 back to Melbourne tonight I am pondering on the eventual balance of the 2011 Tunkalilla Vineyard Riesling which is sitting in tank at Cristom as juice with an analysis of 21 Brix, Acid of 10 gpl and pH of 2.95.
Ernie Loosen, Manfred Prumm and Egon Muller would know what to do.
Having consumed many of their wonderful wines over the years I am hoping for some osmotic inspiration.
Whatever after 40 years in this wonderful vocation, new experiences are constant and replicas don’t happen.
I am looking forward to getting back to the Piccadilly Valley and the Fleurieu Peninsula, Qantas willing and capable.
BJC.
