Purple Cow Vineyards

2011 Harvest Update

Thank god it's done!

And do you think we waited long enough?

This summer we have seen the coolest average temperatures in the last 75 years, added with the continual threat of rain which was determined to hinder the grapes from ripening, but we were one of the lucky ones in our typical Purple Cow style. Although we may need to use Just for Men hair dye to cover up the Grey hairs that set in waiting for the grapes to ripen.

Thanks to Jon’s painful wisdom of dropping half our fruit during the early months of the summer (which made us cry) we are excited and relieved to say that due to our Vineyard management and the long season of hang time we exceeded our expectations on the lab numbers and yields. We are looking forward to a great 2011 vintage.

- PCV Staff

PCV This Spring

Well we are truly into spring here at PCV and well into the swing of things... planting, weeding, mowing (between rain showers of course) working on getting our offices back and of course there are some wonderful things going on in the winery this week.  With all of the excitement of the Astoria Seafood and Wine Festival, a broken coffee pot, on going construction and the wonderful weather we have sadly been neglecting keeping everyone updated on what we have been up to.

As some of you are aware we recently discovered that our offices were infested with black mold (fun) and have had to move out of them and into temporary housing while we remedy the situation. This has of course been a lot of work with some great friends and even more exciting tools that we don't get to use that often. According to our schedule we will be done this weekend (fingers crossed) and ready to focus on what we love most.... educating people about amazing wines.

Hope to see you all this weekend.

The PCV Staff

Goings On At Purple Cow Vineyards

The last two weekend were fantastic here at Purple Cow Vineyards. On the 19th and 20th we released the 2007 Tempranillo Reserve to our wine club. It was a great weekend with vertical tastings of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 Reserves. It was wonder full to see so many of our wine club members. Last weekend we were able to spend more time with members who were not able to make it the weekend before. Sunday we started working in the field. Everything has been pruned and tied down. The experimental field is ready to be planted and now we are just waiting for a little dry weather (fingers crossed) to get the new plants in the ground.

Tasting Room Opens For The Season

Well it is that time of year again.  The winery has been busy this winter and the grapes from 2010 are well on there way to being amazing wines.  The Vineyard is under control and we are looking forward to pruning and bud break. We have been catching up on paperwork and working on the website...

The only thing missing is time spent with old friends and meting new ones.  But we have an easy solution for that...

The tasting room will open for the season on Saturday February 12th at 11AM.  Come out and joins us for the start of a wonderful and exciting new year.

-PCV Staff-

 

 

Harvest Update - Oct 15th

We are reaching a dilemma. The sugars are climbing but the acids are very high. The weather seems to be holding for 1 more week.

Brix 10/2 10/6  10/14                    Bowl 18.7   20.3                     Tempranillo   18.3 19.2                     M Foch (bowl) 20.7                         Dijon60     20.2                     Muscat   18.0 18.6

Interpreting the Numbers 

The goal is to get the Pinot up to 22.5 brix.  While it is very unlikely that we'll reach that number, we hold out as long as the weather does and do our best. While the previous week's sun restored some hope, there is still a long way to go.

At this point I'm not expecting to gain sugar based upon heat but rather by drying out the grapes. The acids levels are also very high (pH ranges from 2.5-2.8) so if we picked now, we would have to adjust it in the winery in order to get any malolactic fermentation to take place. Once you see extended rain coming, expect us to pick the 2 days before it hits.

The only bad news to report is that bird pressure is at record levels and we're losing some crop despite our best efforts.Borderline going below 1 barrel on Marechal Foch.

Harvest Update - Sept 4th

In prep for this year's harvest, it's time to start educating everyone on what to expect.  It's not close enough to warrant email, but I will start sending email to the harvest list in a few weeks.

Below is the degree day graph.  It starts with July 1, and goes through Sept 30th so that explains why the 2010 line goes flat.  It's not particularly pleasant to look at.  This is showing that we are significantly cooler than most summers.  Veraison (color) is only starting to appear, and that visual indicator that we are 3 weeks late.

My best guess at this point is that picking will occur in mid-October with a lengthy season of significant bird pressure.  Going to be an exciting home stretch.  -Jon-

PS email me if you want to participate in harvest and I will add you to that email list.