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Writer's pictureNeil & Sue Shay

Bringing in the Grapes!


Upcoming Events

October 4th 5:30 to 7:30 pm Women & Wine Wednesday

Join us for an evening of Wine, Fun & Fashion on the Hill LuLaRoe Fashion with Rosey Gording and Jewelry by Jan - Inspired by nature, Jan's designs are bold, organic and tribal, with an earthy flair. We will be serving light bites to pair with your favorite Bluebird Hill wines. Tasting fee $10 Wine for sale by the bottle & glass

October 7th & 8th noon to 5 pm Wine Club Pick up Weekend

Wine Club members can stop by Bluebird Hill Cellars anytime October 7 or 8 between the hours of 12 and 5 pm to pick up their Wine Club allocation. We will have a complimentary food and wine pairing prepared exclusively for wine club members. Not a member of the club? We invite you to join our inner circle by becoming a member. As a wine club member, you'll receive exclusive benefits along with selections of our delicious wine to complement your meals, or for life's special moments when you sit down, relax, enjoy friends and a great glass of wine. Visit our website to join today.

HARVEST UPDATE....

October 3, 2017

A whirlwind finish capped our yearlong work in the vineyard. Harvest at Bluebird Hill began on Sunday September 24, when we picked 1.5 tons of Pinot noir from the North Block for our 2017 rosé. We followed with a small pick of 700 pounds of our Pinot gris on Thursday the 28th. Picking of the North Block was completed on Sunday October 1. We put 1.25 tons of Pinot noir clones 777, 667, and 115 into a single large fermenter which will be used to produce a field blend Pinot noir which we hope will reflect the warm, west-facing slope of our North Block. On the first, the fruit came in fully ripe, with great sugar levels, acidity, and wonderful tannins.

Focusing our attention on the South Block, we danced around some occasional showery weather and put together an outstanding picking crew, which convened at morning’s first light on Tuesday October 3. Our intention was to pick our first planting, “Mom’s Block”, which was planted in 2013, and then move on and pick as much of the South Block as possible on this day. This season, ‘Mom’s’ approached full maturity and bearing the full amount of fruit we hope to see year to year in this block, and in every row as our young vineyard matures. Fortunately, our crew worked energetically and efficiently, and amazingly, we picked out the entire South Block by noon or 12:30! Our haul on this day was about 6600 pounds, or 3.3 Tons. These grapes will be vinified as a Mom’s Block-specific lot, and a South Block field blend Pinot noir. The South Block is a great spot to be a grapevine, the slope is to the southeast, which conventional wisdom tell us is the very best aspect for a vineyard block to have.

Overall, the vineyard produced 6200 pounds in the North Block and 6600 pounds in the South Block, for a total of 12,800 pounds or 6.4 Tons. Considering we still have about 15 rows that did not produce grapes this year (mostly Chardonnay), and that half the rows in both North and South Blocks are not fully mature, we are predicting our eventual annual production could easily reach 10-12 tons of fruit! At that level of production, it appears that our annual level of production should be about 750 cases of wine from our estate fruit, plus whatever else we choose to bring in from other vineyards, as we are currently doing from Zenith in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA.

Now it’s on to winemaking, we’re looking forward to producing great wines from the great fruit we have picked from 2017!!

We are open Fridays from 3 to 7 pm and Saturday & Sunday noon to 5 pm through Thanksgiving weekend and hope to see you in the tasting room soon.

Cheers,

Neil & Sue

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