Harvest Wrap-Up, and Harvest Dinners!
All of our fruit for the 2010 vintage is now in the winery, with 5.3 tons from our blocks of Nysa Vyd. in the Dundee Hills coming in yesterday. “All” does not seem to be a good word to use this year, when you consider we averaged exactly .90 tons per acre overall this year – a very meager return in terms of quantity. For fellow Burgundy freaks – that yield would be expressed as 11hl/ha – “draconian” yields even lower than the infamous Mme. LeRoy is routinely lauded for in the press.
The pick at Nysa Vyd.
Low yields of course do not automatically lead to good quality, but in the case of 2010 in Oregon they very happily do. Of course the quality would have been just as good at 2 tons to the acre this year, but the spring rains and the hungry fall birds conspired to rob us of most of our fruit. In the end no complaints, as the quality is indeed quite lovely, and this will be a very “Scott Paul” vintage, in that the style of wines that nature gave us is exactly what we’d prefer to begin with.
Our three fermenters of Ribbon Ridge fruit are now nicely fermenting away, and we’re doing 1-2 gentle punch-downs per day. Everything else from Maresh & Nysa is ambient-soaking quietly, and we’re settling into our rhythm in the cellar. We should have everything pressed-off and in barrel by the 2nd week of November…
In the cellar in Carlton
And now we turn our attention to the best part – celebrating the harvest! There are still a few seats remaining for our 5th annual La Paulée de Carlton dinner, which we do on the first Saturday of November every year. This year it’s Nov. 6th – and we’re doing at in the private room at Farm to Fork in Dundee (because the winery will likely still be full of fermenters by then!) In the spirit of the legendary La Paulée de Meursault, all guests bring a few special bottles from their cellars to share with the group – and there are sure to lots of gems and rarities going around again this year. Seats are $125 each, and you can reserve yours with Kelly Karr or by calling 503-319-5827.
Then we’ll be at the Salud auction and Gala on Nov. 12th & 13th (tickets still available – don’t miss it!), directly followed by my next Burgundian adventure. I go to the Hospices de Beaune auction and the Paulée in Burgundy on the 3rd weekend in November each year – and this year I’m delighted to announce the addition of another great event to the agenda. On Thursday Nov. 18th, I’ll be doing my first-ever winemaker dinner in the heart of Beaune – at the way-cool private supper club The Cook’s Atelier. Chef-Owner Marjorie Taylor is an American friend who moved to Beaune two years ago, and she cooks up a storm in her intimate salon overlooking the cobblestone streets of Beaune. Only 10 seats are available, at 95 Euros per person . If you’ll be in Burgundy for Les Trois Glorieuses – come join us for a great night of food and wine! You can reserve directly with Marjorie.
À table at the Cook's Atelier
