On December 1st, Spring Mountain’s Newton Vineyards will be hosting an open house from 1 – 5 pm. They will be pouring large format wines as well as some library selections. In addition to the wine, there will be some gift ideas for the holidays, including packages, accessories and books. The event is free to Newton Vineyard wine club members, and is $20 for everyone else. To RSVP, call 707-204-7622.
Event at Domain Chandon
On Sunday, December 9th, Napa Valley’s Domain Chandon is going to host their “Savvy Entertaining” event from 4 – 7 pm. This event will offer special deals on their sparkling and still wines, and also good ideas for holiday gift items. The author and judge of the Savvy Entertainer contest will be there to offer tips on to host a savvy party on a limited budget.
Hanukkah at Judd’s Hill Winery
Keeping with the holiday there, Judd’s Hill Winery is planning to host “Hanukkah Hootenanny” on December 9th. The event will take place from 12 – 4 pm at the winery. Like most events, it is free for wine club members, but is $40 for all others. You can sign up for the wine club on the spot, which provides an excellent opportunity to join a great wine club and save money.
Open House at Raymond Vineyards
In other news, Raymond Vineyards is going to hold a wharehouse sale and open house on December 1st. The sale will take place form 10 am to 4 pm at the winery. If you are a fan of Raymond Vineyards, this is your chance to stock up on their wines for the holiday season.
According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the state’s 2007 grape harvest weighed in at 3.2 million tons, up a bit from 3.1 million tons last year. It is still substantially smaller than 2005, which weighed 3.5 million tons.
Because of inconsistent temperatures and weather patterns, grape picking was sporadic in 2007. Temperatures were warm through August, but September saw some rain, forcing many vineyard owners to delay picking their grapes until things had dried out a bit.
Fred Holloway, winemaker at Justin Vineyards, said, “It ended up being a fairly lengthy harvest, letting us pick on a slow pace through the first part of November. It was kind of a laid-back harvest.”
Despite the irregular weather, many vintners are optimistic about the quality of California’s 2007 vintage. Cool temperatures toward the end of the growing season gave grapes time to develop varietal characteristics without acquiring too much sugar.
The UC Davis Viticulture and Enology Department received a donation of $12.5 million that will fund projects in dire need of money. This donation came at a very important time in enology and viticulture research, as Australia is spending more than five times than the United States.
The donation was made my one of the Napa Valley’s oldest wine families. The Rossi family has been growing grapes in the Napa Valley since 1905, when Fred and Rachel Rossi purchased St. Helena Ranch. The Rossi’s sold their grapes to some of the most famous producers in the Napa Valley; Robert Mondavi Winery and Krug Winery.
Louise, the daughter of Fred and Rachel Rossi was a long time supporter of UC Davis. She showed her loyalty to the university as she gave the institution the funds resulting from the sale of her 52-acre ranch. The gift will also fund the development of the Robert Mondavi Institute of Wine and Food Science.
The late Louise Rossi never married, and died without heirs. She was dedicated to sustainable farming, so it is no surprise that most of the funds will be spent on researching organic and sustainable farming techniques.
The Rossi Ranch was purchased by Frog’s Leap Winery. Louise Rossi and Frog’s Leap owner John Williams became friends when the winery begin buying grapes from Rossi’s property. Before her death, Louise Rossi made plans to sell her ranch to Frog’s Leap, as their organic farming philosophy was in tune with her views.
This donation is incredibly important for the UC Davis Viticulture and Enology department. With the difficulty in getting projects funded, the donation could not have come at a better time.
Harvest can be a beautiful time for winery owners, viticulturalists and winemakers. When conditions are right, the fruit comes off exactly as planned, and the vineyard staff can exert full control over the entire process.
However, when conditions take a turn for the worse, like this year, it can ruin a years worth of hard work. Right around harvest time in the Napa Valley, a storm front blew through that dropped temperatures and even rained. Cold and rain can devastate a perfectly good crop of fruit.
As the storm front approached, many wineries who had not harvested yet, went on high alert and scrambled to get all of their fruit off the vine. It is pretty rare that people who don’t work in the wine industry to experience this process. But thanks to Adopt a Grape, you can see what it’s like for a winery at harvest.
If you haven’t already heard of Adopt a Grape, you should check it out. Its functionality is just what you would expect from the title, when you sign up, you actually adopt a grape in their vineyard, and you get video updates of how your grape is doing. You can check out their harvest video here; or watch it below.
News from California Wine Country - 11/28/07
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