This year winemakers everywhere cheered the mild summer but cursed the early and wet arrival of fall. Damp conditions are perfect for botrytis rot, which is good for making certain Italian dessert wines, but not so good for full-bodied Oregon Pinots.

Willamette Valley Vineyards winemaker Don Crank, however, is unimpressed with all the hubbub surrounding the weather. This is after all, he says, Oregon.

"It wasn't the best conditions for grapes," he said. "But they're fine. It will just take a few adjustments. We're not really worried."

Anne Amie winemakers agree. Winery President Craig Camp said they waited to harvest grapes until the last minute.

"Conventional wisdom said to pick earlier," he said. "But we hung on for flavor and got it."
The harvest process is a long and often wet one.

It begins with winery workers picking grapes. The grapes are put in large crates while they wait their turn to go through the sorting machine, which picks the stems off of the grapes. Stems cause bitterness or "tannins" in wine, which winemakers work hard to control.  

"The fewer tannins the more delicate the flavor of the wine," Crank said. "Different types of wine have different levels of tannins."

The grapes are put back in wooden crates where they soak in their own juices and ferment for several days. During this process winery employees stir them with a large plunger to keep the grapes that have floated to the top well-fermented.  

Then the grapes are put through a machine that gently presses them. From there the wine goes into tanks to settle for a few days and then into barrels.