Seufert Winery

Wednesday, October 11, 2006


Oregon Pinot Noir Crush…

is underway. And it’s going well.

It’s been a crazy last couple of months – getting ready for crush and then processing the fruit.

As the dust begins to settle and I take stock of what is going on, it turns out that I’m making Pinot Noir from seven different vineyards, and sourcing fruit from a total of 10 vineyards. I’ve processed nearly 20 tons of grapes for vintage 2006. That’s a tenfold increase from last year.

I prepared a comprehensive harvest plan prior to crush, but it turned into a dynamic exercise. At times it felt like a miniature version of a commodities exchange floor with deals happening on the fly.

For example, one producer ran short of fermentation bins and the suppliers were sold out. The fruit was being harvested and they had no place for it. I just happened to be at their winery picking up grapes from a different vineyard. I had extra fermentation bins, and we made a deal for me to buy some of their fruit in exchange for selling them bins. Meanwhile, some “maybe” deals fell through and others came up.

The net of it is that I got Pinot noir from some of the state’s best vineyards, including:
- Coleman Vineyard (McMinnville AVA)
- Momtazi Estates, home of Maysara wines (McMinnville AVA)
- Hawk’s View Vineyard (Chehalem Mountains AVA)
- Bishop Creek Vineyard (Yamhill-Carlton AVA)

Our excellent fall weather allowed the grapes to readily ripen – resulting in nearly perfect fruit. Regardless, there is considerable diversity across the vineyards. A couple of vineyards produced clusters looking more like Cabernet than Pinot – they were huge. A different site produced tiny clusters with very small berries… probably ¼ the size of the other sites.

These variances yield different concentrations and nuances in flavors, color, and tannins. It’s exciting to process the fruit side by side and watch each vineyard go down its own path. I can hardly wait until the wine is finished. 2006 is going to be a year of stellar Oregon Pinot Noir.

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