The Old Vine

We are now, or at least should be, in the home stretch of the 2011 growing season.  As you drive along Hwy 29 the vineyards are lush with green foliage, trimmed and thinned neatly and taking in every drop of sunlight and degree.  Veraison has begun in some of the warmer parts of Napa Valley [...]

I sat down with Marco DiGiulio this week and we talked about the weather. Not that we didn’t have anything else to talk about, but now that we’re well into the growing season, I wanted to hear his thoughts on how this year’s harvest is shaping up. Marco, what has happened so far this year [...]

It’s March. Spring is around the corner. We turned our clocks forward. And the vineyards should be pruned by now. This past week, I followed our winemaker, Zach Long, out to a vineyard close by to learn more about vineyards, pruning and growing grapes. It was such a beautiful location that I had to make [...]

After the grapes are crushed and pumped into huge stainless tanks to await fermentation, a small closed-cell foam rubber ball is pumped through the lines to push out the remaining juice. It’s called the pig and the trick is to catch it before it goes into the tank. Sounds easy enough, but I decided to [...]

Okay, now that I have your attention. Last week, I wanted to know first-hand what working in a winery involves and I got my wish. (Careful what you wish for!) For several hours, I helped with sorting and then filmed my new-found winery friends as they went about doing all those jobs that offer so [...]