Napa Valley vineyards are beautiful in every season even though there isn't anything too exciting about watching grapes grow. But things really heat up here in late September and early October as the "crush" begins. The valuable grapes are harvested by hand and the fields are suddenly full of farm workers filling big plastic bins. The busy highways are even busier with speeding truckloads of grapes rushing to the waiting wineries. Of all the tricky points in the tricky grape growing season the weather is critical now. Napa Valley wine-making is obsessively technical, but in simple terms rain can be a disaster at harvest because it swells the ripe grapes and dilutes the sugar content. The jury is out on this 2011 vintage because northern California has had a cool summer. But whatever the harvest, you can bet the wineries will put a bright spin on their vintage.
The white grapes are harvested first. This picture is from the Clos du Val winery where we stopped yesterday. It's on the Silverado Highway not far from the city of Napa. The employees below are sorting out the big sticks and leaves before the fruit is dumped in the crusher. The juice is then pumped into the winery tanks to begin the painstaking transformation into expensive white wine-- probably Chardonnay or Savignon Blanc. With luck we'll be back in a few years to taste it.
If you're interested in the technical side of harvesting and the fearful prospect of rain, John recommends this article from the
Clos Pegase winery blog.
Napa Valley vineyards are beautiful in every season even though there isn't anything too exciting about watching grapes grow. But things really heat up here in late September and early October as the "crush" begins. The valuable grapes are harvested by hand and the fields are suddenly full of farm workers filling big plastic bins. The busy highways are even busier with speeding truckloads of grapes rushing to the waiting wineries. Of all the tricky points in the tricky grape growing season the weather is critical now. Napa Valley wine-making is obsessively technical, but in simple terms rain can be a disaster at harvest because it swells the ripe grapes and dilutes the sugar content. The jury is out on this 2011 vintage because northern California has had a cool summer. But whatever the harvest, you can bet the wineries will put a bright spin on their vintage.
The white grapes are harvested first. This picture is from the Clos du Val winery where we stopped yesterday. It's on the Silverado Highway not far from the city of Napa. The employees below are sorting out the big sticks and leaves before the fruit is dumped in the crusher. The juice is then pumped into the winery tanks to begin the painstaking transformation into expensive white wine-- probably Chardonnay or Savignon Blanc. With luck we'll be back in a few years to taste it.
If you're interested in the technical side of harvesting and the fearful prospect of rain, John recommends this article from the Clos Pegase winery blog.
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