Everything you know is wrong…
… at least when it comes to “normal” summer weather patterns here in the Willamette Valley. One of the coolest and wettest springs ever was quickly followed by a nasty heatwave (la canicule in French) in the hi 90s, only to be followed by a dip back in to the mid-60s! Those poor vines don’t know whether to grow, stop, or die! And they appear to be doing some form of all three, depending on the day. All I can say for sure at this point is that we will be losing a good 25% or more of the crop at Maresh due to a large amount of shatter and necrosis, and that we are about four weeks behind at this point. We are in full bloom just about everywhere, but that still puts us at a projected harvest of October 18th or thereabouts. May the gods be kind to us in September and October…
A bevy of beauties from Nuits-St. Georges
Thanks for joining us on Saturday for our first ever Nuits-St. Georges tasting. It was great to see you and share these excellent wines. We sold-out of most of the offerings, but a few bottles of the Confuron and Mugnier remain if you’re interested but couldn’t make it out to Carlton…
We are so fortunate to be in Oregon, and be part of the wine community of Carlton and the greater Willamette Valley. There is a generosity and inclusiveness here that make the quality of life that much more special. A huge thanks to Chris & Hilary Berg, Dewey & Robin Kelly, and Rick & Heather Karl for the invites to three amazing parties we’ve had the pleasure of attending over the last couple of weeks. Each involved a magical setting overlooking the vineyards, excellent food, way too many choices of good wine, and a great group of people…
Looking over the vines from the Karl's treehouse above Carlton, seen through a glass of Scott Paul '07 La Paulée. Photo: Martha Wright
The biggest and best party of all of course is the upcoming IPNC – a few tickets still remain for the weekend-long event, as well as for the Sunday-only tasting. This is THE one not to miss, and I look forward to seeing you all there for three days of revelry, hedonism, and an embarrassment of riches in the food & wine department. I’m off to turn my attentions to final prep work for our participation there, but I’ll leave you with a teaser. Our good friend Thiébault Huber of Domaine Huber-Verdereau in Volnay will be coming over in August for a couple of days, and we’ll be announcing details of a winemaker dinner with Thiébault in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned…
