The Wine Knows

As I mentioned last month in one or two posts, I was rather dismayed by the high alcohols in many Oregon wines during our judging of Northwest Pinot Noirs. We had many wines above 14% alcohol - and a few above 15%.

Two weeks ago, I was chatting with Terry Casteel, co-owner/winemaker of Bethel Heights Vineyard in Oregon's Eola-Amity Hills. We got on the subject of high alcohols, and he was able to share some insights on the issues Oregon winemakers have faced since 1998.

Terry said Bethel Heights never had a wine over 14% alcohol until 1998, around the time he and the rest of the state became very crop-level conscious. These days, you hear a lot about Pinot Noir crop levels in Oregon being under two tons per acre. That's necessary because the Willamette Valley is on the edge of viticultural viability (though moving further from that edge as global temperatures rise).

Thus, Oregon grape growers and winemakers need to make decisions early about thinning crop levels, long before they know how the weather will turn out.

In 2006, it ended up being a warm, dry fall, meaning sugars rose in the grapes long before the flavors developed. So alcohols were going to be higher.

In 2007, the rains came in September and never really seemed to go away, so it took much longer for the grapes to ripen and the vintage was saved because of the low crop levels.

"I don't think anybody is trying to make wines over 14% alcohol," Terry said. "You have to really work with the wine to work some balance into it if the alcohol is that high."

He said that Bethel Heights and other vineyards in the Eola-Amity Hills tend to have an advantage over other regions in hot vintages because of the Van Duzer Corridor, a gap in the Coast Range that provides a direct shot from the Pacific Ocean, which is just 30 miles away. Thus, the days tend to be warm in the summer, but the nights cool down much more.

"I think we do well in the vintages where there's more than significant heat," Terry said. "Heat is one of the enemies of Pinot Noir. When you have a summer that is too hot, we tend to do better than others."

In cooler, wetter years, such as 2007, disease is a bigger problem than lack of ripeness. Terry said he and his twin brother, Ted - Bethel Heights' viticulturalist - look for disease on the grapes during rains. If the grapes are in good shape, they can let them hang until they ripen. If they start to get rot, then they know they're in trouble.

"We're feeling very good about our '07s," Terry said. "I'm frankly surprised the wines are as good as they are with as much rain as we saw. Our viticulture was top notch, and we didn't have any disease. We did a few other things in the winery to protect color and concentration. I think we made a very good wine out of this vintage, and we're very pleased with that."