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

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.

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.