Eugenia Keegan

Day one in Navarra was mostly about getting my bearings AND a very important meeting with a winery that I worked with before when an importer.  My appointment went much better than ever hoped.  My contact, Concha Vecino is an extraordinary woman.  She is not only the head winemaker but runs the place without question.  She is both intensely professional and a ton of fun.  She asked that the winery Export Manager, Carlos Biurrun join us as he would handle any details if we decide to work together.   Carlos spent four years in St. Louis at university, speaks excellent English and was equally fun.  We had a great day tasting through several different lots of OVG from 2010 and 2011 and then visited the vineyard sites from which the wines came.  This was topped off by a delicious lunch.  Growing up in California and taking Spanish since grade school I am pretty comfy around the language, as long as we don’t venture too far from the present tense!  I don’t know if they didn’t teach the other tenses or I was absent that term, but really, it is weird.  I can only speak in the present tense and then add the lame “en el posado” or “en el futuro” !

I am always intensely ill when traveling though this area of Navarra known as Valdizarbe.  I have had the pleasure of three trips in ½ dozen years and once I learned that the lovely grassy hillsides were once covered in old vine garnacha and carignane I truly get physically ill.

One of the Potential Sites

The Owners of One of the Biodynamic Sites....Enjoying Their Lunch Among the Vines

Their Site. They Maintain the Forest Behind as Part of their Biodynamic Philosophy

Old Vines with New Power; Dynamic Spain!

Welcome to Town!

South End of Valdizarbe: Lots of Rocks

On day two I ventured to the other bastion of old vine garnacha, Baja Montaña, one of the five regions (and the other that specializes in OVG) of Navarra. I was thoroughly charmed.  There are more old vines here and indeed more fruit agriculture altogether.  The area seems lost in another age. Although it is not THAT far from Pamplona it feels miles apart.  The lovely towns just south of Pamplona are in fact “suburbs” of Pamplona which is only 15-20 minutes away.  When driving/walking through the small towns I was taken with the quiet nature, beautiful houses, many of them new or fully renovated construction and no services.  I was certainly surprised to learn that these charming towns are now occupied by the reasonably well heeled white collar working people from the big city.  The area of Baja Montaña has a much more agricultural feel, which was truly noted as I walked into a lovely restaurant for lunch only to discover that I was the ONLY woman in the building (except servers of course).  I prided myself however on being of the same working cult, Levis and boots, plenty of dirt!

The Incredibly Sophiticated Canal for Water Delivery

Old Vines of Baja Montaña, Town of Sada in Background

Another Small Patch of Newer Garnacha

The Ongoing Contrast: Old Vines that Remain on Right, Newly Grubbed Up Ones on Left

Lunchtime!

More Sadness, Newly Grubbed Up Vines

Just Another Bodega Sign, Bienvenido!

What a difference a year makes!  I now had a very clear idea of the project and samples in hand for show and tell.

Of course leaving France is always difficult, but when the destination is Spain the task is not nearly so arduous. I enjoyed one last lunch on French time before crossing the border at Biarritz.  My destination was Navarra so I followed the signs to Pamplona.  There is so much mystic and lore about the place between Hemingway, the bulls, and the copious amounts of wine and sunshine that the town in known for that a sense of excitement was easy as hell to muster.  Then I drove over this high highway and wow, Spain.  Ten days of magic unfolded from here.

Final Lunch in France....For Now

View From the Cafe

First Breathtaking View on Road to Pamplona

Oh heavens, where to begin.  After two years of  Conception and Gestation, the Old Vine Grenache Project is a bone fide reality.  I started with some vague idea about old vine grenache and France but had no idea that it would become this.

Yesterday, the 12^th of March I bottled 629 cases of spectacular juice sporting a new label.  The beautiful design was created by Chris Noud from Head for Design and the exquisite printing was executed by CRUSH.

The wine is a collaboration of the Calvets et moi

When I arrived at the domaine yesterday I was as nervous as a school girl on her first date…with the one. For the first hour my heart was in my throat as I sweated each detail.  And incredible as it may seem the bottling went without a hitch.  After an hour I replaced Marie on the bottling line (truly, she had more important things to do in the office) and that mindless repetition finally calmed my nerves.

The Bottling Truck Arrives

The Whole Family at Work: Roger, the Father of Jean-Roger

Double Checking Every Detail

Double Blessed by Marie's Grandfather

And Finally: The Darling in Front of Her Childhood Home; the Concrete Tank

That evening I shared a simple dinner chez Calvet and I seemed quite in control of myself but when I finally reached the apartment I went emotionally ballistic. I was so overwhelmed by the reality of it all that I sat for a couple of hours listening to music and crying like I had lost my best friend.  The joy that I felt was fantastic.

In fact, there is a bit more to March 12, 2012.  I also bought (with my cool cousin Rock and his wife Marnie and David of course) two small vineyard parcels with approximately 1.37 ha of old vine grenache.  I am sure it is clear at this point that the day was filled with just so much joy that my poor old system just wept with gratitude.  Sadly, David was not here (someone has to bring in an income!) but with the miracle of the internet we talked and talked throughout the evening.  Thankfully one can type through the tears.  Of course none of this could have happened without his love, support, and constant consultation.

But before the Irish in me takes over and maudlin becomes a dirty word it is indeed time to refocus and to keep on moving. On Wednesday I leave for Navarre, Spain and have my first appointment at 11:00 am on Thursday.

It’s the new year and time to climb out from under the proverbial rock and start sprouting some buds (you can just smell spring can’t  you?).  Thankfully, with all the heavy equipment available it is now possible to build a full life under that rock so lots of great things have been going on preparing for the next stage of this journey.  But before we discuss the future…..

OMG, I just looked at my blog and now realize that my last post was before harvest!   Of course there was a trip to France for vendange.  With the Oregon harvest so late and Europe’s so early, it was a great year for Oregonians to head to Burgundy to rekindle old friendships and check out what the French have been doing.  The opportunity segued perfectly into my harvest trip so David and I left on the last day of August and had a couple of perfect weeks to assess firsthand the 2011 French harvest.  We started in Champagne, through Burgundy, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and finally in Maury, Roussillon.

In fact the harvest did not start quite as early as feared because July was cool and wet.  This pushed the ripening back certainly two and up to three weeks.  It also increased the threat of botrytis rot as the rains continued throughout the month.  We did see a lot of that, and as expected some wineries were more aggressive about culling in the vineyard, and in the winery as clusters were dumped onto sorting tables.

Harvest on the Côte des Blancs

Dumping Pinot Noir Fruit at Domaine Drouhin in Burgundy

Sorting Fruit at Domaine Drouhin

I then put David on an airplane for the east coast of the US.  We had to switch his city of departure to follow up on a business meeting in Champagne, which gave us a free day on the way to Paris.  What better way to enjoy a quiet weekday than in the gardens of Giverny.

First Things First: Lunch

And Then a Stroll Through the Gardens

We arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport late so I opened the door and booted David out of the car and raced back to Chateauneuf-du-Pape to work a week in the cellars of Domaine de Cristia.  Michel from Paris returned for crush and we enjoyed the addition of a young intern from Alsace, (we are pictured together on my twitter profile, @grenachegal).  From there I headed back to Maury to harvest with Jean-Roger and Marie Calvet.  I can’t believe that there are not a bunch of pictures (maybe I was working??) but in fact most of the camera work was a camcorder.  The video is in production.

We brought the last fruit in on the 7th of October and I returned home.  Harvest in Oregon was still two weeks away so there is absolutely no excuse for why I did not open ALL of my mail that had been delivered while I was away.  So I was more than a bit stunned when I finally opened what I thought was some routine notice from the company that managed the rental of my home in Napa.  Ahhhh, my tenant had given notice on the first of October and in a week the house was mine again.  He had lived there four years to the day and was mostly a dream.  I had made the decision to sell the house and headed down to Napa at my first opportunity to view the property.  The inside of the house, which is rather fragile (all wood and glass) was in absolutely immaculate shape.  The outside, not so much.

We loaded up a van with furniture and artwork, all originally from the house (and living either with us or with friends) and had a harrowing ride from Portland to Napa through snow and sleet.  We arrived in the wee hours of the morning but were up early and had the house staged by mid day.  After a couple of days of work on the exterior (David is mean with a power washer!) David headed home and I continued to labor.  After a couple of additional trips down the house was ready for its first of two open houses on the 6th and 8th of December.  We received offers each day, were in escrow by the 12th and closed on the 6th of January.  Yep, that fast.  I had thought it would take four to six months.  The house is very special, but small, not for a family and does not appeal to everyone.  On the other hand it is an architectural designed house of glass and redwood and is snuggled amongst dozens of oaks on a knoll overlooking the Napa Valley on a small piece of heaven.  It is probably best that it happened this way hoping that it was less painful (I am thinking of that swift removal of the bandaid).  I made my final trip (five round trips by car in six weeks!!) down the week between Xmas and New Years.  The house is famous for its ability to throw a party so that seemed the logical conclusion to twenty years of loveliness.  These gatherings were a tad different since I had almost nothing for entertaining.  They quickly became BYOP parties….that is bring your own plate….and silverware, and napkin, and wine glass……    The result was an array of eclectic table settings adding a festive feel.  We partied straight on through to the morning of the First.  My brother and nephew arrived around 8:30, we loaded the van and off we headed, back to Oregon.  Tears were streaming down my cheeks as I said goodbye to my beloved tree house.

Southwest Corner of the Greatroom

December Sunset Back Deck

From there, it has been full court press on…….yes, the Old Vine Grenache Project.    Label is done, biz cards are printed, facebook page is happening.  The website is a ways off.

Saturday we are off to northern Europe working on distribution opportunities for Adelsheim Vineyard and then to Prowein, the largest wine trade show in the world.  Then I am off to Maury to put the first wine in the bottle.  Wine always takes so long from idea to glass but somehow the day arrives and mine is right around the corner!  YIPPEE!

Front Label

Back Label

After the bottling in Maury I will head south to Spain to search for more grape sources in the famed old vine grenache growing area of Navarra, Campo de Borja, and Monstant/Priorat.  Should be fun.

So, what does this mean, the latest (or in the case of France, the earliest) harvest ever?  The season of the grapevine is like that of any other plant.  Certain conditions, in this case soil temperature, set off a chain of physiological events, kicking off the annual cycle of the plant.  This year 2011, we have had a cool, wet spring (as we did in 2010)  followed by a VERY mild early summer.  This past weekend, the final weekend of July, we had a string of days with temperatures from the high 70’s to the low 80’s, clear, low humidity, and a very slight breeze.  Perfect grape growing weather.  But this weather should have started a month earlier. Coupled with a cool spring and therefore a late bud break (first signs of new life) the whole cycle runs tardy.  For Oregon this means harvest (there is a formula that predicts harvest based on the flowering portion of the cycle, when the actual berries are fertilized and formed) should start around the last week in October and finish around the end of November.  One should assume that around that time of the year we will  have lower temperatures and rain.  So, can anything be done to facilitate earlier ripening?

Sadly, not much.  Solid heat for as long as possible is very important to staying on track and maybe pushing things along a day or two.  When the temperature is too high, over 95-98 ambient degrees the leaf surface is well over 100 degrees.  The vine realizes that it is expelling liquid faster than it can possibly find replacement H20 and the vine literally shuts down. Hot weather is not an opportunity to play catch up.

One technique that is frequently used however is leaf pulling or leaf removal.  Leaves on the east or morning side of the plant are stripped from the fruiting area that lines up along the lower catch wire.  This exposes the front side of the cluster to greater sunlight and opens the foliage to help lower any mildew pressure by allowing breezes to pass through the canopy.  This measure does not come without its potential of a downside however, most notable is berry susceptibility to sunburn if there is a heat wave. In my experience the birds seem to find these exposed berries a little more quickly as well.

Before Leaf Removal at Ribbon Ridge

After Leaf Pulling at Ribbon Ridge

So what do we do?  Drink a little rosé, do a sun dance, hit the river, and prepare for a late, potentially wet season.  Up until now, 2010 was the coolest vintage in history.  The reds are bursting with red/blue fruit backed by ripe tannins and juicy acid.  The whites are simply spectacular:  bright stone fruit flavors sparkling with racy acidity.   Another glass of rosé please.