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This may perhaps be a bit of hyberbole, but there were certainly several times during the 2010 growing
season when skepticism arose about the certainty of a grape harvest this year. But the forces of nature once again showed mercy on the winegrowers of the Willamette, and we did indeed have a harvest this year,
albeit much later than normal.
Twenty ten was unique in that it had an early start, and a very late finish. Due to relatively warm weather in February
and March, the vines actually started growing 2 weeks earlier than normal. Buds had swollen to finger-nail size by April 1st. But cool weather in the weeks that followed brought very slow growth, leaving
the tender young shoots susceptible to damage from foraging deer. Impromptu "vineyard ghosts" positioned around the periphery of the vineyard (see picture below at right) provided some deterrent, but we still
had a significant loss, especially in our rather remote Pinot Gris block.
Flowering did not begin until around June 28th in our estate vineyard, and was only half-way through by the 4th of July (Murto
vineyard was just starting at that point!) We saw the first signs of color on August 18th, but it was well after Labor Day before we reached full veraison. During that time we made multiple passes
through the vineyard, removing any bunches that were visibly behind, pulling leaves on the west side of the rows, removing second crop, etc - anything we could thing of to help hasten maturity!
With the late harvest, birds were much more of a problem than usual. Our bird scare devices (mostly noisemakers) were in
service much longer than usual, and with the proximity of other vineyards in our neighborhood, our hill sounded like a war zone during most of October!
Thankfully, the first winter storms held off! We began harvest with a "practice run" on 8-Oct, picked a little more on
the 14th, and then brought the bulk of our crop in under perfect conditions between October 18th and 22nd. Flavor development was good at low sugar levels, so the resulting wines are complex with nice fruit flavors
and aromas at low alcohol levels. The combination of factors should make for unique, and very compelling wines.
The bad news is that our crop levels were pretty low, especially at Murto vineyard, where we harvested only half as many tons
as normal. Our estate Pinot Noir was down about 25% from normal levels, and Pinot Gris was even worse. But Chardonnay lovers can rejoice: quantity was good and quality is outstanding!
So our 15th harvest here at Belle Pente is now behind us! It was a stressful, chaotic year with a
happy ending - but one that I don't want to repeat anytime soon!
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