Our last pick of 2023 was at night on October 7, at our family’s vineyard in Eagle Point, in Oregon’s Rogue Valley. That fruit went into our 2023 Rogue Valley Pinot Noir.
The pick
Our photos from that night start a little after 4 a.m.: the barn lit up, with the harvester, forklifts and a tractor in the yard. By morning the Pellenc harvester was parked on the concrete in the sun. The tech notes for the wine record a night harvest in early October.
The wine
The 2023 Rogue Valley Pinot Noir blends Pommard, Wädenswil, Dijon 777 and Dijon 667. It fermented in stainless steel with Burgundy yeast strains, went through malolactic fermentation and spent 9 months on French oak. It’s 13.3% alcohol. It was bottled in September 2024.
Weather
More than 2 inches of rain fell at the Medford airport from September 25 to 29; early October brought only light, scattered showers. By early October, the modeled heat total for our vineyard was about 17% above the 1991 to 2020 average for the date, and the first fall frost came in late October.
The 2023 Rogue Valley Pinot Noir is $20 a bottle.
