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

Artichoke Heart Truffles with Goat Cheese, Tarragon and Parmesan served with Dobbes Family Estate Pinot Gris 2007

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

3 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/8 teaspoon pepper

two 6 1/2 ounce jars marinated artichoke hearts, strained and trimmed to bite size pieces

Mix the Parmesan and parsley together in a small bowl.  Combine the cream cheese, goat cheese, lemon zest, tarragon and pepper in a medium bowl.  Add the artichokes and mix to coat each heart liberally.  Transfer to the bowl of Parmesan and roll to cover completely.  Place on a parchment or waxed paper-lined baking sheet.  Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.  Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.  Can be prepared and refrigerated up to 3 days in advance and brought back to room temperature before coating the artichokes.  

yield:  about 24 truffles

Recipe contributed by:

Chef Sarah Carlson

The Red Hare

Personal Chef and Catering

503.680.5875

www.theredhare.net

It’s with happiness and relief that I relate the good news that Veraison has begun and all around our vineyard, berries are beginning to blush with color and promise. The danger of powdery mildew is still present, but an end is in sight to the vigilance we’ve had to show.

Unfortunately, the color change is some sort of signal to the birds that the seeds are mature and the juice is getting sweet, so while our battle against mildew is ending, soon will begin our struggles to discourage the ravenous flocks of starlings from eating our crop. Starlings are an introduced pest with incredibly discerning taste: they love Pinot Noir. One the one hand, you have to respect their palates; on the other, they’ll eat the whole crop if you let them.

Since the last update we had a significant rain episode followed by the past few days’ excessive heat. The vines have responded by continuing to grow, a good thing to help us get the fruit ripe in the next two months. The heat is probably also helping to speed veraison along. It was around 100 degrees today afternoon, and we sent home the vineyard crew early to avoid the danger of working in the heat. 

We’re still engaged with balancing the crop load by removing excess fruit from all the vines that need it, but we should be done soon enough. It’s a job that requires a good and empathic sense of vine physiology. One needs to understand by looking at the strength that a vine demonstrates how much fruit it will be able to mature. It’s required a lot of personal attention in training our staff, but I think the hard work will pay off with riper fruit for a tastier wine.

Last year, harvest began on this vineyard on October 15, so we’ll be planning for on that date or earlier to be ready to pick.

We had another amazing vintner dinner in the barrel room last Thursday! I was happy to see both old friends and some new faces. Chef Sarah’s Grilled Leg of Lamb dinner was so tender and delicious- cooked to perfection. And the Summer Vegetable Ratatouille was filled with garden fresh vegetables in a sauce so rich it knocked everyone’s socks off. In fact, she had several requests for the recipe, I’m going to ask Nicci get it out to you all in some form or another. I’m sorry to see summer on it’s way out, but looking forward to the mania of harvest which is rapidly approaching!

We received some reviews back from Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar that I want to share with you. I am very proud of both of these wines and pleased to have received great reviews on them. Griffin’s Cuvee is named for my son. Big, rich, concentrated, bold, and definitely not shy. Griffin’s is the most age-worthy of all the wines we produce. It’s almost over the top, yet perfectly balanced at the same time. I consider the Cuvee Noir to be the sexiest of the cuvees; ripe and rich character with a sense of elegance and finesse. Starting with the 2007 vintage it will be called Patricia’s Cuvee Noir, named for my beautiful wife who has the above qualities plus so many more!

2006 Dobbes Family Estate Pinot Noir Cuvee Noir- 90 Points: Ruby-red. Powerful aromas of cherry, blackcurrant, vanillin oak and brown spices. Broad, palate-saturating dark fruit flavors are impressively deep and chewy, with a late note of licorice adding grip. The finish lingers impressively, repeating the deep cherry and berry notes. This brooding, concentrated wine will go well with grilled duck or a peppery steak.

2005 Dobbes Family Estate Griffin’s Cuvee Pinot Noir- 90 Points: Deep red. Smoky cherry, blackcurrant and dried rose on the nose. Broad, chewy cherry and dark berry flavors display very good concentration and are nicely framed by dusty tannins. The smoky note recurs on the finish, which leaves sweet cherry-cola and licorice notes behind. This serious Pinot should reward patience; be sure to decant it if you plan on drinking it anytime soon.

My apologies for the delay in vineyard updates, but we’ve been awfully busy growing this year’s vintage, and as we get closer to harvest, the work becomes more critical.

About a week ago, the vines entered into the stage known as “lag phase,” when the bio-energy of the vine is transferring from vegetative growth towards fruit and seed formation. Soon enough the fruit will turn color, and begin to sweeten. Until then, the berries will continue to swell as the seeds inside them develop.

Since that tremendous heat wave two weeks ago, we’ve had cool, damp weather in the Van Duzer corridor, which is absolutely perfect weather for the formation of the most dangerous of vineyard maladies in Oregon: Powdery Mildew. It’s a fungus that afflicts vinifera vineyards everywhere. So far, because of sound vineyard practices, timely application of sustainable treatments, and good luck, we’ve maintained a healthy, clean vineyard.

The Ancient Romans suffered from a similar disease that affected their wheat crops. We now know it as the common fungus Wheat Rust, but they worshipped the malady as the vengeful side of the goddess of agriculture, Robiga. In order to appease the goddess and prevent her ire, they slaughtered a goat and a puppy each year on April 25th. My dog and I would like next year to roast a goat or two and skip the puppy, and invite everyone out to the vineyard for a barbeque. Please mark your calendars: April 25, 2010.

I’m not sure if roasting a goat will help with mildew, but it will be tasty. The real key to mildew is prevention, balancing the growth of the vine, maintaining an open canopy, and knowing what weather conditions increase fungal spore formation. We are 2 weeks from Veraison when all-of-a-sudden, the fruit turns color and our foe is no longer a problem. So we’ve got 2 weeks of worrying and sky watching to do.

While we’re watching for color change in the berries, we’re balancing the crop load by removing excess fruit. This has turned out to be a very fruitful year, and many of the vines have grown big, healthy bunches of grapes. In order to concentrate the phenols and sugars, we’re removing a touch of fruit in every vine, choosing the best fruit to ripen for this year’s vintage.