State of the Grape Address

It’s been a scary few weeks for grape growers in Sonoma and Napa Counties, what with two long-lasting, drenching and unseasonable storms hitting us at the end of growing season. The problem with late season rain on vineyards is that, just when you are trying to get the grapes to concentrate their flavors (most of us have turned off irrigation for the last month or so), a sudden...

Winemaking Seminar: Blinding You With Sc...

We had a late and unusually cool and wet spring this year, so everyone was worried that it would push out the grape harvest. Compared to last year, the grapes were much further behind in ripeness. Then a sudden heat spell in August seems to have kick started things. But if you aren’t sure, you bring out your wine science experiments. There’s plenty of that associated with...