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New wines, release party, harvest, and ruminations from Jim.
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Early September 2013
 
Dear Drosophila,
 
It’s late, muggy, and this evening I feel I must address you in a manner severe. What is it with you fruit flies, my darling Drosophila? What am I to make of your nonchalance and then persistence? You continuously avoid my hand. So many fruit-leather plums on the sidewalk outside, and safe harbor in my counter bowl, your peaches. You’re a cloud of winged monsters, someone else’s patron saint in a church that worships over-ripe. Fecund vines and copulation will not fend off the autumnal cool, nor your death. It’s all fallen fruit. I won’t miss you.
 
Your arrival at the end of this current growing season is no great surprise. The year has been early and relatively easy, within the guise of constant vigilance. Yes, your mother, Nature, was up to her old tricks, throwing off the yokes of winter and coming straight out of the blocks with a nearly summer-warm and early April bud break, as if to catch us still sleeping, but we were not. The grass wars were waged, not once, but twice due to a secondary spell of wet weather in June that nicely re-charged the soils heading into what would turn out to be a long, dry growing season. Of course, dry, like your humor, was a relatively humid thing. We had to be on high alert for the threat of powdery mildew, which, even amidst the casual garden, could be evidenced by the roses and maples turned snowy white.
 
In regard to the precious fruits that attract you, and most notably my wine grapes, it appears a sumptuous feast has been prepared. 
The June flowering was dry and concise, setting a uniform crop of small clusters, without a lot of excess. Fruit dropping wasn’t a wholesale endeavor, but rather a bit of cleaning up the edges. Oh, my dear, the table is set so well for you. It’s too bad then that our neurotic history suggests I only allow you a picnic of the clusters not worth my time, left behind in the vineyard. We’ll have ripe and clean in the cellar, a veritable late-night dance of flavors coaxed, with the belle of the ball yet to be determined. To the extent I can, I’ll eschew your presence, and most certainly will not court your visage by constructing an altar of over-ripe grapes. It is a year to guard against such possibilities, reigning in the sugars and alcohol, lest I make crass and corpulent wines, reminiscent of you.
 
I wish you bonne vendange.
 
Your adversary,

Jim
 
P.S. Our electric zapper and shop-vac will be ever-present, Drosophila, should you show your face.

Vintage 2011

While the 2013 grapes occupy my frontal lobe now, the main of our 2011 wines will be on deck this fall. You may remember that 2011 was the latest growing year on record, with a crop that we elected to keep small (about the same size as 2010) to ensure ripeness in a year that threatened to drive harvest into November. Our calculus was good, and we brought all vineyards in during the last week of October, ripe, just before the close-out of the weather the following week. The craziest part is that we have never, ever, anywhere, seen sugar and acid numbers fall into such a tight range (literally + 1 brix [unit measurement of sugar]) across all the vineyards and ferments in the entire cellar. It’s a clear reflection of the vines going as far as they could before easing up on their acid and calling it quits for the season. You will find 2011 to be a very classic and ageable vintage from us with the wines hovering at around 12.5% alcohol. Nice!

Note to wine club members: We will be in touch in mid-October with the details about the club's next shipment (2011 Vespidae and Limited Bottlings), slated for Oct 28th for more northern states and mid-November or early December for warm southern states. If you would like us to reserve some 2011 Lucidite' Chardonnay (not included in club), you may email Linda at any time (no need to click the order button or fill out the order form).


2011 Vespidae WV Pinot
2010 Vespidae Pinot

Vespidae (ves-puh-day): The Latin name of the family of wasp trying to kill me. It's a fitting name for the wine that represents my best foot forward in any given vintage, in 2011 with grapes from some of the best known vineyards in Oregon: Shea, Temperance Hill, Black Walnut, and Gemini. Translucent garnet red, the wine floats Christmas spice, smoke and green tea over high-tone cherry. In the mouth, elegant tannins keep just-ripe cherry and apricot awash on a neverending sea of mouthwatering acidity. Come taste and then lay in your stash. That small crop guarantees the wine won't be around for long.  $42/bottle ($36 ea case & club price). 

order 2011 Vespidae
 

2011 Lucidité WV Chardonnay2011 Lucidite' Chardonnay
We keep reminding you about the small and late 2011 crop, and in white wines, that kind of year lends itself to higher acids and ideal freshness. Of course, we absolutely had to keep yields down to ensure ripeness and then hold it long on its lees (dead yeast cells) to raise the mid-palate, giving it weight. The wine, a pale shiny yellow, throws a somewhat reserved nose of lemon brioche, gooseberry, lime zest and crushed green leaves. The mineral and very linear acid lends itself to comparison with a very cold gin & tonic followed by lemon ice-vanilla-lemon ice, on and on and on. $32/bottle ($28 ea case & club price). 

order 2011 Vespidae

What else is available?
Just a couple of wines ... 
2011 Provocateur WV Pinot, $26 ($22 case/club) - Last call!
2007 Willamette Valley Pinot, $50 ($45 case/club)

... and a smattering of 1.5-L magnums:
2011 Vespidae Pinot, $95 ($85 club)
2010 Vespidae Pinot, $100 ($90 club)
2010 Limited Bottlings (Anderson, Antoinette, Gemini, Shea), $150 ($130 club)
2009 Vespidae Pinot, $110 ($100 club)
order 2011 Vespidae

This fall, when you visit participating Oregon tasting rooms (including J.K. Carriere and more than 200 others), simply show your in-bound Alaska Airlines boarding pass and taste wine free. The case of wine you take home checks free as baggage on your return Alaska flight. Runs from Sept 10th to Nov 20, on domestic flights departing one of four Oregon airports and Walla Walla. Come see us!

Fall calendar

We hate to tease far-flung J.K. Carriere fans with events taking place here in Oregon, but if you find yourself headed our way, here's a snapshot of what's on the docket: 

Sun, Sept 22: September release party

Sat, Nov 9: Wine club preview and pick-up day

Fri, Sat, Sun, Nov 29 to Dec 1: Thanksgiving open house

For so many reasons, fall is our most important time of the year at J.K. Carriere. We hope you'll take some time to experience it with us!

Best,

Jim Prosser
Linda Crabtree

J.K. Carriere
9995 NE Parrett Mtn Rd.
Newberg, OR 97132  directions
503-554-0721
www.jkcarriere.com

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