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

While the harvest all around Oregon is winding down, the grapes on our estate vineyard continue to develop. Located in the cooler climate of the Van Duzer corridor, our grapes are ripening more slowly than others and the cool nights and warm afternoons have meant that a natural, bright acidity is maintained while the complex flavors of Pinot Noir slowly develop. I’ve spent a lot of time during the last few months visiting vineyards with Joe, and I’m pretty sure our grapes are going to be some of the tastiest in Oregon.

One of the things that Joe has noticed is that the grapes in our vineyard seem to have the thickest skins of any other vineyard we’ve visited this year. This is a good thing, not just because you can make fun of them and they won’t mind, but also because by the time this update has been published, the rain will have begun to fall. Were our grapes not in as good of condition, much of which is attributable to the thicker skins, we’d have been forced to pick earlier than we’d have liked, worried that the rain might bring Botrytis, a fungal disease of the vine associated with wet weather.

If you could have woken up before dawn to meet me in the vineyard for the sunrise this past week, you’d have been cold but you would have seen from atop the hill that thick fog covered everything until the sun rose. As the fog flowed down the valley and away, the bright sun of cloudless days lit up rainbows in the fog. With the sun, the rainbows, and the grapes becoming more delicious by the minute, now is a good time to be a vineyard guy.

But it’s been a lot of long days without rest to get to this point. The bird pressure is increasing, and the struggle against the flocks of starlings has begun in earnest. Until the grapes are harvested, they are our foes and as I tear after them on the ATV, I sometimes wonder if they are laughing at me as they lift into the sky and fly away.

Although we haven’t yet harvested our bumper crop, we’re already planning our strategies for future vintages. We prepared the soil for seeding our winter’s cover crop, and have engineered a special blend of grasses, grains and legumes for biomass, nutrients and plant diversity. I’ll mow and disk these crops into the soil, where they’ll compost into richer soil.

I’ve been demarcating the soils that are thinner or have higher clay content by taking advantage of the more pronounced fall colors in the canopies of stressed vines. We’ll prune the vines in those areas back a bit more this winter, and in the spring I’ll cultivate the soil. In a year, I’ll seed those areas with a cover crop, and over a course of years, the vineyard will gracefully balance itself, providing more consistent ripening.

Pinot Noir is the most genetically complex of all grapevines, and the one most likely to mutate into new forms of grape. Pinot Gris is a lighter-colored variety, and Pinot Blanc its mutant. We have a few vines of Pinot Gris that spontaneously mutated into a new form of white grape. So far, I’ve found three vines in our 200 acres. I flagged and marked them so that when they’re pruned, I’ll make sure to save their cuttings, which I’ll preserve and propagate them in the spring. Smaller in size than and differing in taste from the Pinot Blanc we have planted, it’s going to be a very interesting thing to see over the next few years how these grow and what sort of wine results. My guess is that because the change occurred in our own vineyard, it will be a vine that’s suited to the terroir of our site and perhaps bet expresses its unique nature.

That’s all for now. I’ve got starlings to go beat up. Wish me luck.

Michelle, one of our wonderful tasting room employees, chose the organization to receive funds from the Dobbes Charitable Giving Program during the winter quarter. Brain tumors have affected two of her family members which motivated her to select the National Brain Tumor Society as the beneficiary of the donation. Please take a minute and read her story below.

When I was asked to choose the charity for the next quarter I instantly knew the Oregon chapter of the National Brain Tumor Society would be my choice. This charity hits home to me personally because my aunt and cousin have both dealt with and are still dealing with brain tumors.

My aunt, Eileen Risser, was diagnosed in August 2006 with an extremely large brain tumor. The good news was that it was benign, the bad news was that even though benign, without surgery it would eventually take her life. She endured two surgeries four months apart and Gamma Knife radiosurgery three months later to remove the tumor entwined in and around her pituitary gland and carotid artery. I am very happy to report that her surgery and radiation removed the majority of the tumor and she is living an active and busy life with her husband and 21 year old son. Although the majority of the tumor is gone, her health will continue to be monitored and she will continue to go in every 12 months for an MRI to make sure the tumor remains dormant.

My cousin, Brittany Bolliger, was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 6, though her doctors believe it probably was there since her birth (she was born 3 months premature, weighing 1 lb-15oz., and had many surgeries during her first three months of life spent in the hospital). When her tumor was first diagnosed, her doctors were able to implant a shunt to relieve the fluid on her brain but her tumor was determined to be inoperable. It was an extremely sad and worrisome time for our family because the initial diagnosis and prognosis was not good. However, subsequently, her doctors determined that with the shunt in place, and no further complications, she would be able to live a normal life. Since then she has had MRIs at least every 6 months to check the tumor. We had another scare recently when the tumor had grown slightly, but a subsequent MRI and the doctor’s evaluation calmed our fears. Brittany continues to do well and is now an active 10 year old.

“This year, more than 190,000 Americans will be diagnosed with a brain tumor.” The National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure and creating programs and services for those affected by brain tumors, their families and caregivers. It also provides educational programs on topics ranging from new patient orientation to the latest clinical trials. This last September 2009 marked the 4th annual NBTS Portland, Oregon 5k run/walk to help raise money for the NBTS. On September 12th more than 800 people (including my aunt’s team To More Success!) participated in this event held at Willamette Park. I encourage anyone who is interested in this annual event or would like more information to check out the NBTS website at www.braintumor.org.

I am very proud and appreciative that Dobbes Family Estate will be donating 10% of all sales from the 2007 Skipper’s Cuvée Pinot Noir from October 2009 through December 2009 to the National Brain Tumor Society.

We have grapes arriving consistently now. Harvest is in full swing! Here are some more pictures of all the great stuff going on at Dobbes these days…