Leslie and I drove to some vineyards in the Eola hills to sample their wine. Amity, St. Innocent, and Cristom. I was also interested in pruning methods. We had been to Cristom in the fall, right before harvest and I had taken some photos of the vines. With all the foliage and growth it was hard to tell what was going on. Now in the spring it looks so bare and simple.
September
March
The stout is done and I just dropped off some bottles with Joel and Elle.
From the barrel of the 2009 pinot I drew off 4 bottles to taste and see how it’s going. Kate thought the fermenting yeasty aroma was still quite strong. It’s aging on the lees, so this is to some extent the point. It’s quite dangerous experimenting with destabilizing winemaking techniques when I have yet to make a ‘clean’ wine, but I think it’s working well. It’s light, as you can see, but nonetheless moderately tannic. The cherry fruit flavors are very fresh, the wood is rather unintegrated at the moment. It’s very drinkable and Chris, Kate and I polished off the whole bottle before dinner was over.
I racked the stout into a keg last night in preparation for bottling on Sunday. It had lost a little more weight, dropping from 1.018 to 1.016 during the last 2 weeks. It now tastes fairly dry and really good! Not too bitter, very round and malty. Like porridge. I’ve been drinking some other stouts as well. It’s generally a style I’ve stayed away from before but am now finding that I kind of like. The Ninkasi oatmeal stout is good. Very fresh, not bitter. HUB makes a multigrain stout with espresso that’s very good. Rouge is a very technically accomplished and reliable brewery but I’m always ambivalent about their beer. The Shakespeare stout is a little too bitter for me and I think it’s verging on being an imperial. Last night I had their chocolate stout. Very well made, clean, and integrated, but after a few sips it just tasted like they had poured hershey’s syrup into the stuff.
There will be 4 shutters for two windows.
The Pinot Noir from 2009 is coming along very nicely. I’m sending out samples to be tested for sulfite levels.
I made some stout last week. It’s almost done fermenting and will sit in the basement for a few weeks. I’m planning on making some spiffy looking label for the bottle.
Joel has long requested a stout from me, so I should be able to barter it away for a few pounds of coffee.
