In my original plans for sabbatical we were picking fruit about now . . . not so much. So my internship with Coeur de Terre has been a bit slow in getting started. This morning I arrive around 8 AM. I've never been up to the vineyard this early in the day, and a cloudy mist has enveloped the lower vines on the property. We are scheduled to filter some wine today. Actually we're not scheduled to do anything. We are going to watch a guy who specializes in filtering wine, but don't say that in front of him. I put my foot in my mouth right away by asking, "How does this filter thingy work?" Corey Morris, the owner of Willamette Cross Flow visibly tenses at the question and he retorts, "First of all this is not a thing, it's Charlene, and second, this is not a filter, it's a cross flow." OK, Now I'm lost. It turns out you can really damage a wine by filtering it by conventional methods. Flavors are lost, and the wine is bruised, or harmed in the process. In the cross flow system the wine is gently circulated through a series of thousands of spaghetti like fibers. As it circulates the smaller wine molecules are able to slip through while sediment, yeast, bacteria, and other nasty stuff are left behind.
Corey has reason to be touchy. The machines cost a lot of money, and he has two of them in use today, Charlene (in the foreground in the photo) and Betsy (in the back.) We, or rather, they, are filtering Coeur de Terre's Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. This is Scott's entry level wine which is am amazing value at $20 a bottle. At Wednesday Wines it is one of our best selling wines. Scott sold out last year, so this year he is making more. This is the wine we will be bottling next week. Scott also has an ice wine that he is having filtered. It is made from Chardonnay grapes from Highland Vineyards. It was tough duty, but we had to try some to make sure it was OK, and, although it took me several taste to know for sure, it is!
Once the filter, I mean, "cross flow" is up and working there is not much to do. This allows me to accomplish something that I've wanted to for some time now, and that is to just hang out in a vineyard. As I walk around the corner from the wine making cellar the sun pops out showing a beautiful blue sky behind all those clouds. I hike up the hill to get a different perspective of the place. BOOM! A propane cannon goes off just to my right. The first time I about come unglued, the second, a flinch a little bit, and the third time I'm accustomed to it. Turns out that birds react in just about the same way. I step in to get a close up of some wet grapes and when I step back onto the road I'm about three inches taller. This clay soil really sticks to your feet when it's wet. I realize that I'm probably going to need some different boots for harvest.
I've told Scott I want to experience as much as I possibly can about harvest, and I'm glad I got to see this process. Corey has created a neat business filling a need to help make better wines. Few wineries could afford to purchase such a machine, so this is a great service. It also allows him to participate in harvest and crush. No one wants a big filter machine sitting in their cellar when crush is going on, so he is always free during that time of year. I'm looking forward to actually making some wine, now if mother nature would just cooperate. All we need are a few weeks of partly sunny weather. Is that too much to ask?