Change of Seasons

The seasons have changed here in Walla Walla. The 2009 harvest is over, the wine is finished and in barrel. The weather has turned windy and cold and of course the days are suddenly getting dark very early. We have had a nice dusting of snow in the Blue Mountains for the last couple of weeks, a sure sign that fall is turning into winter in a hurry here in the Walla Walla Valley. The change in the weather means lots of work for the vineyard crew. Every winter we run the risk of damaging cold temperatures. Most winters are mild in Walla Walla, but every so often we have extreme temperatures that can be way too cold for the grape vines. In 2004 we saw temperatures of 17 degrees below in the Pepper Bridge Vineyard. Temperatures that cold are too extreme for the varietals that we are growing, Cabernet and Merlot are particularly cold sensitive. As a result, we sustained substantial damage in the vineyard and in many sections, the vines had to be cut down to the ground. The vines will grow back after being cut to the ground but it means one year without fruit. So as an insurance policy against the cold, our crew is out in the vineyard burying canes. Each spring we allow two canes to grow at the base of our vines, they are suckers and normally would be clipped off. These canes grow along the ground all summer and now that it is fall, Arturo and crew are burying these canes under a blanket of dirt. Hopefully if we were to experience an extra cold winter that damaged the above ground growth, the canes that are buried would be protected from the cold. In the spring we would be able to cut down the dead growth, unbury the canes, trellis them and they will bear fruit. Of course all this work is done by hand, with the crew walking every row with shovels. With the weather turning quickly into winter, it is cold and windy work. But without their hard work we run the risk of going a season without fruit.

Fall Release

This past weekend was the Fall Release here in Walla Walla. A weekend of new wines debuting all across the valley. Despite the forecast, we ended up having perfect fall weather, no rain, just sun and wind, typical Walla Walla. The nice days made getting out and tasting new wines even more enjoyable. At Pepper Bridge we released our 2006 Reserve. It is an excellent finale for the 06 vintage. Its full of dark red fruit with long tannins and lots of complexity, a very well balanced and elegant wine. Reserve is a fitting title with this wine, in my opinion it is the best wine from the 2006 vintage. We poured Reserve all weekend for old friends and new visitors and the response was fabulous. Everyone loved the new wine, along with the 06 Merlot and Cab of course. Hopefully we will have more occasions to pour the Reserve over the next few months. Certainly the staff will have no complaints in tasting more Reserve! The other big news of the weekend was the unveiling of the new barrel room for Amavi Cellars. Our sister winery is moving to the southern neighborhood and this weekend we welcomed visitors and tasters in the new barrel room. 2007 vintage was the focus of the Fall Release for Amavi, both 07 Syrah and Cab, and for the Coin Club members, the 2007 Les Collines Syrah. Saturday, the Amavi Coin Club had a party to celebrate the new site and the new wine club wine, Ceres. It is a blend of 50% Cabernet and 50% Syrah and all of the fruit comes from our Les Collines Vineyard. This wine has yet to be bottled but Ray Goff was on hand to pull barrel samples of this new wine for all to taste. A fun treat for all of the fans of Amavi wines. At the moment there is not much to see of the new tasting room, just a concrete wall, but hopefully we will be able to host Spring Release in the new building. Then visitors can get their Pepper Bridge/Amavi fix without having to drive across town. Both Pepper Bridge and Amavi want to thank all of our club members and visitors for the support and enthusiasm this weekend. We look forward to seeing everyone for Holiday Barrel in just a few short weeks when we will be tasting 2008 out of barrel!

Fermentation Underway

All of the fruit is in for 2009! And pretty much not a moment too soon with the weather that we've been having. It's cold outside, too cold for the vines. This is deja vu of last year with an early, very hard frost that basically stops the vineyard cold, literally. With night time lows dipping down to 20 degrees the vines shut down, leaving the grapes with no more nutrients or water. So the grapes must be picked immediately. Luckily for us, we had only 3 tons of fruit left to pick before the hard frost on Saturday night. That last bit of Cab has been sorted and is in tank fermenting. Now that the outside work is finished, the work in the winery is in full swing and the winery is full of fermentation. All of the tanks are filled and every portable tank and bin is being used. The very last blocks of grapes have been inoculated with yeast and fermentation is under way. Now each day begins with punch downs. Punch downs are an integral part of the wine making process. During fermentation the skins and seeds float to the top of the tank forming a cap, while the juice settles to the bottom. All of the very best parts of wine, the flavor, aroma, color, and tannins reside in the cap. So during fermentation you want extract these elements, so the cap must be mixed back into the fermenting juice twice daily. The crew punches the cap down either with a pneumatic punch down tool for the big tanks or the old fashioned way for the small bins, first thing in the morning and last thing in the afternoon. Samples of the fermenting lots must also be taken daily so that Horacio can check the Brix level to monitor the fermentation. As long as everything is going smoothly with fermentation, the sugar level drops at a steady rate on a daily basis. Horacio also takes samples of the lots for Jean-François to taste. With all of the fermentation at the moment, Horacio is testing 40 different lots of wine. It is a lot of work but at least this part of harvest happens indoors, out of the cold and wet.

Hard Work for Harvest

We are at about the mid point for the 2009 Harvest here at Pepper Bridge and it has been a lot of hard work. It is easy to see hard work happening all around the winery, the sorting of grapes, the cleaning of bins, and of course the punch downs. What isn't so easy to see is all the hard work that goes into getting the grapes to the winery. This time of year our winemaker is up early in the morning, spending time in the vineyards checking on the grapes. As the grapes ripen, Jean-François methodically pulls samples and tastes the grapes from all of our blocks in both Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills Vineyards. It means lots of walking while it is barely light out, but is important work that helps him decide when to harvest particular lots of fruit. Jean-François will walk two rows of a given block, pulling grapes from both sides of the row until he has 100 berries. These sample berries will be taken back to the lab for analysis of their sugar level. While we typically harvest the red varietals at about 25 to 26 Brix, the sugar level is not the only thing that Jean-François considers when deciding whether to harvest. While pulling grapes for samples, he will also be tasting, checking on the flavor of the grapes. With all the sun and heat that we have had this summer in Walla Walla, we don't have to worry about the grapes not having enough sugar. The trick is picking the grapes when the flavors are at the best. Little fluctuations in temperature up or down can either accelerate the ripening, or slow down the process, allowing for more flavor development. So it is of the utmost importance for Jean-François to check on the vineyard daily, keep on top of the weather forecast, and staying patient. Once he decides that a block of grapes are at their best, he calls for the vineyard manager to pick. All of the grapes at Pepper Bridge are hand picked. The picking crews work in small teams, with each picker filling small plastic totes that will then be dumped into a picking bin that is pulled by a tractor. The pickers work amazingly fast, getting through about an acre an hour. For working so fast, they also pick very cleanly, with very few leaves or bad clusters ending up in the bins. Once the grapes have been picked, the bins are loaded onto trailers and trucked to the winery. All of this work happens before 9:00 so that there will be grapes ready and waiting for the wine team to sort and destem first thing in the morning.

Sustainability in the Vineyard

There is alot of talk these days about sustainability, and the wine world is no exception. The sustainable farming of grapes is becoming an important issue for wineries and vineyard managers. Not only are consumers interested in sustainability, but the long term health of the industry depends upon responsible farming. Here in the Walla Walla Valley we have a sustainable trust for the vineyards called Vinea. This organization is committed to introducing and encouraging sustainable farming practices. Growers and producers are certified sustainable through IOBC and Pepper Bridge has also been certified Salmon Safe because of our protection of water quality. At present almost 80% of the vineyards in the Walla Walla AVA are participating in Vinea. So what does sustainability in the vineyard mean for Pepper Bridge? Farming sustainably means that we keep our attention on the health of the vines, the soil, the workers, as well as the health of the business. We want to grow the highest quality grapes in a manner that can be perpetuated over the long term. In order to produce high quality fruit, the vines themselves must be healthy. The health of the soil plays a key role in the health of the vine. We work with local composter Rick Trumbull of Sustainable Soil Solutions and Quality Compost, to return vital nutrients to the soils. Each year we spread tons of compost through both Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills Vineyards. During harvest, we save all the left over stems and pomace. It will be composted with a mix of logs, hay and straw, manure, and minerals such as phosphate and basalt dust, then returned to the vineyard. In addition, we drip a compost tea through the irrigation lines to add nutrients to the soil. The goal is to have healthy soils full of microbiological activity. If the soils are healthy, the grape vines themselves will be healthy, and therefore able to protect themselves from disease and pests. And of course, the end goal is to produce the best grapes possible so that we can then make the best wines possible. Restoring soil health is a long slow process. It is a commitment to the future of grape growing and wine making in the Walla Walla valley.

Harvest 2009!

Harvest 2009 has begun as of today! The weather in Walla Walla has been warm the last few days, with the nights staying pretty warm as well, and the result is that the grapes are ready. As is tradition at Pepper Bridge, the staff toasted the 2009 vintage with glasses of Champagne for luck. We brought in about 10 tons of Merlot from our Seven Hills Vineyard this morning to kick off the harvest. The Merlot looks and tastes good so far, with very small berries and nice clusters. If the weather continues to stay warm, harvest could roll into full swing very quickly. Jean-François has been in the vineyards each morning this week at 6:00 a.m., checking the Brix level of the grapes. According to him, the sugar levels in all the grapes, including all the varietals that we use at Pepper Bridge, are getting close where he wants them. This means that the next couple of weeks could be a flurry of activity here at the winery, and the wine making team is all set to go. We have a new shaker-sorter table this year and it got its first use today. The table is used for quality control of the grapes. All of the grapes at Pepper Bridge are hand-picked, but we want to make sure that only the best grapes end up in the tank. We hand sort the grape clusters as they vibrate down the table before they are destemmed. Once the grapes have passed through the destemmer, they fall onto a second sorting table. This gives us one more opportunity to sort out unwanted grapes and stems. Today we also discovered that this new attachment also sorts out all of the bugs that happen to be in the grapes like lady bugs and bees. Definitely stuff that we don't want ending up in the tank with the grapes. It is an exciting new tool for the wine-making team and it should lead to even better Pepper Bridge wines.