Joe the Winemaker – The Official Blog of Oregon Winemaker Joe Dobbes

I’ll be at Place Pigalle in Seattle for a vintner dinner. The menu looks amazing, our wines are showing beautifully right now, and the views of Puget Sound from inside the restaurant are spectacular. Click here to see what I mean. The dinner is at 6pm on Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 at Place Pigalle Restaurant and Bar located at Pike Place Market; 81 Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98101. $85 per seat. Check out the menu below and then call Place Pigalle @ (206) 624 – 1756 to make reservations.

Reception:
Viognier
Oysters on the Half Shell with Paddlefish Roe, Cocktail Sauce and Mignonette
Hawaiian Blue Prawn Fresh Rolls with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

1st Course:
Willamette Valley Pinot Gris
Foie Gras Terrine, Baby Arugula, Paddlefish Caviar, Citrus Gelée

2nd Course:
Pinot Noir
Sea Scallop and Heirloom Tomato Napolian, Smoked Tomato Beurre Blanc, Crispy Prosciutto

Break:
Barrel Sample

3rd Course:
Syrah
Domestic Lamb Lollipop, Wild Mushroom Ragout, Syrah Bay Jus with
Smashed Duck Fat Poached Fingerlings

Dessert:
Late Harvest Viognier
Lemon Verbena Custard with Fresh Berries and Whipped Crème Fraîche

This is the first of our extended ‘07 vintage bottlings, and an exciting beginning it is. While many of our wines are bottled within 10 months of the harvest date, our Syrahs are given extra time in barrel to soften tannins, round out body and mature to pure expressions of the Southern Oregon vineyards where they have grown.

Bottling weeks are always a flurry of work at the winery, where workers need to be at the their best to match an equally hardworking bottling line that’s able to put the finishing touches on up to 1800 to 2000 cases per day.

To learn more about our Syrahs, click here.

Our current release of the 2005 Fortmiller Vineyard and 2006 Sundown Vineyard Syrahs have a limited number of cases remaining, so come in soon to catch them while they last. Expect this week’s bottling of a combined 225 cases of Fortmiller and Sundown single vineyard Syrahs to be released in at least two years. Plan ahead and you can compare these to excellent vintages at home or in the tasting room. Enjoy the spring showers and know that they are bringing exciting opportunities at Dobbes Family Estate.

Last Saturday night several of us from the winery attended the Dundee Dance which was held at Argyle Winery. The proceeds benefitted Dundee Civic Association, Dundee Fire Department, Dundee Parent Club, Promise Pantry- Dundee Food Bank,  and Dundee Womans’ Club. Not only was the event to raise money in support of several of our community organizations, it was also a great time! Here are some pictures of the night. I look forward to the next Dundee Dance and hope to see you there!

The Belles of the Ball! From left, Pattie Holder, bookkeeper and office manager; Lynn Gourley-the one responsible for bringing Malia into the world; Malia Lamoree, Executive Coordinator; and Patricia Dobbes, my lovely wife.

On April 19, Dobbes Family Estate hosted a seminar for the Dundee Hills Passport Tour discussing how wineries tackle challenging vintages. Attendees were given a private tour of the winery followed with a pouring of the 2007 Grande Assemblage Cuvee.

2007 Grande Assemblage Pinot Noir tasting notes

The seminar detailed the tools used to guide grapes from vine to barrel in non-ideal harvest conditions. Guests learned about botrytis, sorting and de-stemming, fermentation control, adjusting sugar and acid levels, and grape press options, all the way to barrel ageing. We had a great group of participants and there was plenty of time for questions and a thorough discussion of the strength of the 2007 vintage. Big thanks to the Dundee Hills Winegrowers Association and our neighboring wineries for organizing an exciting and educational event for the public!

State of the art equipment employs sorting tables before and after a gentle de-stemmer, resulting in only the finest fruit reaching the fermentor.

Yes, spring is here and it’s time for bud break in the vineyard! Having been dormant all winter, the vines have finally awoken. Pinot Noir is a varietal that ripens early in the season and the little white buds are showing the first of the green leaf tips. We are happy to announce the birth of the 2009 vintage!

I’ll be at Rafati’s Encore310 on Thursday, April 30th, 2009 enjoying an amazing dinner menu created by Executive Chef Brian Reilly to pair with our wonderful Dobbes Family Estate wines. I’d love for you to join me.

For additional details and to view the menu, click here:

Dobbes Family Estate Vintner Dinner Menu

Thank you to all who joined us for our Tax Day Event on April 15th. Being able to take a deep breathe and relax with a nice glass of wine after the stress of completing tax returns is a great way to end the day! We’re glad you chose to share your time with us.

If Mother Nature keeps smiling like this we’ve probably seen the last of the frost and hopefully bud break will happen in the next week or two. With 2008 secure in barrel we’re already looking ahead to vintage 2009: day-by-day and week-by-week.

Last week was our first of many Monthly Wine Dinners here at the winery. This dinner was prepared by our friend Sarah from The Red Hare Catering. I think that the Griffin’s Cuvee Pinot was the star of the night.

I’m unashamedly proud of our wines, but I have to give credit and say that Sarah’s food got nearly as many compliments as my gorgeous, sexy, perfectly-balanced, flawless wines: From the killer mushroom bisque, heirloom beet salad, and the lamb through to dessert- Sarah knocked us out! All of our future guest-Chef’s will have big shoes to fill…

Charles and Michelle made for a seamless night of service. With that kind of talent on staff- we’re very confident that we’ll host many more dinners. We dined in the barrel room and it was a fun mix of guests: Club Members, Vineyard Owners, Custom-Winemaking Clients, two Wine Retailers, Patricia and myself. It was 15 happy campers, lots of wine, lots of jokes and many hours of camaraderie.

There were many who wanted to attend, so we’ll host monthly wine dinners until we get close to crush. Our wine dinners will be available for the first people to respond to the email invitations. Please check your emails early and often- this dinner sold out in less than 90 minutes- I’m sure that future dinners will, too!

Here are some pictures of Matt doing a second racking of the 2008 Pinot Noirs (which I might add are phenomenal).

The process of  racking is essentially cleansing the wine. Racking removes the wine from barrel or tank and separates it from the lees and sediment that form.

Rinsing the pump and hoses to avoid any cross contamination  between different lots of Pinot Noir and different aged barrels.