Our mid-week harvest update is here.

Things have calmed down dramatically in most of the vineyards, with the majority of fruit already picked (or being picked as we write) and in the winery.

Here’s the latest (and likely the last) formal update of the season from Smith-Madrone, Piña Napa Valley and Swanson Vineyards…

Smith-Madrone
Managing partner Stuart Smith provided a quick update from Spring Mountain, where activity is slowly winding down…

Most of the wineries are taking advantage of the beautiful warm fall weather to finish harvesting this week, leaving only a very few wineries with grapes hanging as we go into November. Those grapes being harvested are clean and flavorful, with only one report of a tiny amount of mold being detected.

Piña Napa Valley
Meanwhile, winemaker Anna Monticelli shared details on how the weather impacted the harvest and noted the winery’s final grapes should be coming in today…

The weather has been very temperate and mild in the past week and the humidity also went down. There was a storm coming from Hawaii that was supposed to hit the Napa Valley bringing more significant rainfall starting on Thursday. It looks like the storm is going to bypass us leaving us with beautiful temperate weather. Unfortunately due to the effects of the previous rainfall and high humidity following the big storm 2 weeks ago, we will be unable to keep the fruit on the vine any longer without risk of the grapes getting moldy or falling off the stem.

Our last grapes to be harvested are on Howell Mountain, the coolest of our AVAs. We brought in four of the Howell Mountain Buckeye Vineyard blocks today. The rest of the vineyard will be harvested on Wednesday and then we will put our crushing equipment away. The quality of the 2009 wines looks very promising. The wines have beautiful aromatics and they taste very balanced. It is still early but we think it will be a great vintage. It’s a wrap!

Swanson Vineyards
Finally, winemaker Chris Phelps reflected on the 2009 growing season and provided some early thoughts on the vintage…

The weather is shifting in Napa, as the mercury drops, the North wind blows, and the grapes still hanging out are not going to improve.

We wrapped up harvest at Swanson a week ago, so we now have a solid picture of what our Merlot and Cabernet harvests are translating into, in terms of wine quality. We guessed that the lower-than-average yields and cool growing season would mean great color and easily extractable, ripe tannins, and we have not been disappointed. We have been so impressed by the balance, and especially, the texture of our reds, that we ordered an additional load of new barrels – a first for my 6-year tenure at Swanson. Achieving full physiological ripeness means that reds develop delectable, velvety tannins. Look to many 2009 Napa Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines for these characteristics. Visit your favorite producers in April, taste the 2009 reds in barrel, if you can, and tell me you don’t agree.

For full coverage, hit up the Harvest 2009 category.

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This week’s harvest update comes following several days of wet, rainy, windy weather here in the Napa Valley.

Read on to learn more about what has been taking place at Piña Napa Valley, Swanson Vineyards and Smith-Madrone.

Mid-October: A vineyard just off Yountville Cross Road in Yountville begins to show its post-harvest colors. More photos: www.krjphotography.uncork29.com

Piña Napa Valley
Winemaker Anna Monticelli detailed how the recent rain has impacted the fruit left on the vines…

Last Tuesday it rained 4 inches in the vineyard. This is a substantial amount and it slightly diluted the sugar levels in the berries. The weather remained slightly cooler during the week and warmed up into the eighties on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately it was humid last week which is a cause for concern. It is necessary to check the vineyards every couple of days to make sure there are no split berries and there is no mold growing. Thankfully we leafed the entire Buckeye Vineyard on Howell Mountain and we are also running the wind machine to help dry the grapes and prevent mold. Today it rained again, probably around 1/4-1/2 inch. The temperatures should be in the seventies for the rest of the week. Hopefully the air will be drier. I foresee picking the earliest blocks of the Buckeye Vineyard this Saturday and holding out on the last blocks unless we see some mold and are forced to pick.

Swanson Vineyards
Vineyard Manager Ross Hall noted things are pretty much complete, the fruit is in tanks and barrels…

It’s over. The 2009 grape harvest at Swanson Vineyards, that is. It was an exciting season from start to finish that kept us guessing, plotting and planning throughout the entire cycle. Cool weather, followed by warm weather. Then more cool weather, and lots of it, followed immediately by extended spells of hot weather.

What were the yields going to be? When will we start harvest? What sort of quality were we going to see? What’s the best canopy management strategy, crop management strategy, for this unpredictable weather? We were constantly trying to figure out the weather and its affect on our vines. The forecast of the last rains made us a little nervous, and caused concern, but when they arrived, they were too late to affect our harvest plans.

We must have gotten it right! Yields were as we forecast, and the weather cooperated and behaved as we had hoped. We’ve ended up with a good, solid yield of some of the best quality grapes we’ve seen in recent memory. We here at Swanson’s are all thrilled that we’ve been blessed with such an all around great year.

The grapes are in tank and barrel now, and everything we see as we ferment and process the juice has us excitedly anticipating a really great vintage. And that’s for both white and red wines. Not just ours, but the Valley’s 2009 wines will please the most discriminating tastes and thrill the casual connoisseur as well. We can’t wait for the 2009 vintage releases to begin!

Smith-Madrone
Managing Partner Stuart Smith also discussed the recent weather and noted some wineries expect to be harvesting into November…

The substantial rain of last week and the rain this Monday has stopped all harvesting. Most of the wineries have just a small amount of Cabernet or Cabernet franc left to harvest, which should come off later this week. A few wineries will be harvesting well past Halloween. There is unanimity that this years wine has good color, good flavors, soft tannins and good juice yields. The crop levels, however, are not uniform, ranging from “the worst Merlot crop ever” to 20% above average.

See Harvest 2009 for complete coverage of this year’s activity.

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This week’s installment of harvest updates is, predictably, very much focused on Mother Nature.

Read-on to learn how Rutherford’s Piña Napa Valley and Spring Mountain’s Smith-Madrone prepared for and are now dealing with the first big winter storm to hit the area.

Piña Napa Valley
Winemaker Anna Monticelli explained the impact of the recent rainfall and provided details on yields so far in 2009…

The valley was full of grape trucks today as vintners brought in fruit before the impending rain. The weather forecast has predicted that this particular storm will give us 1-4 inches of rainfall. This isn’t the 1/10th inch of rain we saw 2 weeks ago. That amount of rain didn’t even wash the dust off the grapes. This rain however will likely be much more substantial and can affect the water content of the grapes, effectively diluting them.

At Piña Napa Valley, we brought in some Cabernet from our Yountville Wolff Vineyard on Saturday because it was ripe and ready to come in. Our Howell Mountain Buckeye Vineyard Cabernet is not ready and the fruit must stay on the vine and ride out the bad weather. Fortunately we pulled all the leaves in the fruit zone last week to increase sun and air exposure so this will help the grapes dry after the rain preventing rot.

Overall our yields are up anywhere from 25-40% this year from 2008. This is very vineyard dependent. Generally our vineyards that have more sun exposure, such as our Oakville Ames Vineyard and Rutherford Firehouse Vineyard had a 25% increase whereas the Wolff Vineyard Yountville and D’Adamo Vineyard Napa had 40% increases. We originally thought we would have an even larger crop but there was a variable set for Cabernet Sauvignon this year.

Smith-Madrone
Managing Partner Stu Smith also shared a few thoughts on Mother Nature and predicted a wet and cold winter to come…

There was a big upswing in tempo this last week, especially this weekend and Monday as everyone worked long hours to get their grapes off the vines before The Big storm hits. Those already done with picking were winterizing vineyards with equal intensity. The weather is bringing the harvest to an end for most, but not all.

1) We finished picking last Tuesday, so the rain forecast is not an issue for our harvest. Please remember that finishing picking is not the same as finishing with crush. We still have punch-downs, pump-overs and pressing.

However, since last Monday I’ve worked long hours getting the vineyards winterized in anticipation for the first rains. One or even two inches is perfect for that first rain, enough to germinate the cover crop, but not so much to cause erosion – three to eight inches is keeping me awake at night!

2) This storm is not like the first one which was early in the season, minimal rain (1/4 inch) and we all knew there would be much more warm weather. This storm is much different – it is some 3 weeks later, fall is now upon us, while there may be more warm weather it is not a given as it was three weeks ago. Additionally, this is no ordinary storm, the prediction is from 3-8 inches of rain, with up to 60 mph gusts. I heard that it’s been 47 years since the first storm of the year had this intensity. It the forecast is right, then it will be several days before you can get into the vineyard. Add the chance of a second or even a third storm and now you have real problems. Additionally, we’re losing about 3 minutes of daylight per day, so three weeks ago we had an additional hour of daylight. Also, the mornings are colder – last Monday (one week ago) several Howell Mountain vineyards were frosted – some as low as 29 degrees. The weather gods are conspiring to tell us that summer is over and winter is coming on hard. BTW, I’ve noticed a tremendous number of Black Oak acorns this year which some folk think portends a wet and cold winter. Some will gamble and hope for better weather, most will not.

I think it’s fairly easy to say that most of us welcomed the first storm and are fearful of this second one, at least I am.

Hopes this helps understand why farming is so much fun!

Full coverage can be found at the Harvest 2009 category.

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With harvest in full swing and rain pouring from the skies, we were able to track down Chris Phelps, Swanson Vineyards’ winemaker, for a quick interview on a variety of harvest-related topics.

Phelps shared details on overall volumes, Swanson’s process for handling the fruit once it’s brought in from the vineyard and what today’s torrential rains may or may not mean for any fruit that’s still hanging on vines throughout the valley…

CB: How is overall volume looking? Can you provide tonnage details and comparisons to last year?

Phelps: For Swanson’s white grape sources: Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay 10 – 20% less than normal crop size. Red varieties just a little light – Merlot and Cab off about 10%. Less crop usually means more concentration, which so far appears to be the case.

CB: Talk a bit about what, specifically, happens to the fruit after it is brought in from the vineyards. Give us some details on the process…

Phelps: We cool all fruit down to about 50 degrees F if it didn’t arrive cold. This helps slow oxidation, keeping the fruit and resulting juice (whites) and must (reds) fresh, and preserving color and flavor. We whole-cluster press all whites immediately and chill down to 45 degrees.F. We settle overnight and do a very, very slow fermentation, which preserves varietal character, especially for Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay and freshness.

The body of the resulting wines benefits hugely from a month of lees contact during fermentation. We continue to stir the wine on the lees for 10 weeks after fermentation to build up the body. All of these 3 white wines at Swanson have reasonable alcohol levels, which we think is critical for balance: SB around 13%, Pinot Grigio around 13.5%, Chardonnay just a touch over 14%. No oak contact except for Chardonnay, which gets barrels but no new barrels. We honor the varietal character of each.

On to the reds: Merlot and Cab are both cold-soaked for 48-72 hours before they are warmed up and fermentation is kicked off. We run about 20 days on the skins for Merlot, 30+ for Cab. We do not make red wine by numbers, we do it by daily sensory evaluation.

Deciding when to pick a red is the biggest decision by far.

We are picking reds at slightly lower Brix than normal, which is fantastic, since we are achieving excellent tannin maturity at a lower potential alcohol. The 2009 reds will be balanced and complex.

CB: Our first big winter storm is here and we’ve been hearing reports that many in the valley were scrambling to finish off the harvest before the rains arrived. Talk to us about what this storm means for you and why there was a scramble this time around (whereas a few weeks back we had a bit of rain and it was generally seen as no big deal).

Phelps: Yes, many Napa Valley producers were indeed scrambling to get fruit in the barn before this storm hit. If they were bringing in Cabernet before it was fully ripe, however, my personal feeling is that it may not have been a good idea. It is very critical that grapes be physiologicaly ripe – that is, that the tannins be ripe – prior to harvest. Grapes that are not fully mature will not make top-flight wine, period.

Several weeks ago, we had a very slight sprinkle (no measurable rainfall at our winery). The current storm, with lots of tropical moisture, is the first storm of the season, and has already dropped 2.75 inches at the winery since it started last night. Like many Napa area wineries, we just have a minor percentage of our crop out – and it’s all Cabernet Sauvignon. Cab is very resistant to Botrytis, a mold which can grow rapidly this time of year, given the humidity following a good rain. Chardonnay, Pinot, Zinfandel and Petite Sirah, however, can be very susceptible to mold and breakdown of the skins. Cabernet on well-drained soils like we have here in Oakville is not a problem. Warm, dry weather is predicted in our agricultural weather forecast. We are gambling that our last few tons of Cab will attain the last little bit of physiological maturity we are looking for as the nice weather returns. It was awfully close to perfection before the storm. Worse case, it will be right where it was before the storm, which would not be bad news, by any means.

We are an agricultural business, and there’s always a little bit of gambling to be done when we need to decide on when to harvest. Christian Moueix, producer of Dominus and many famous Bordeaux wines, and one of my mentors, likes to say that the greatest wines are always made when we need to wrestle with tough decisions. Deciding to wait to pick is difficult, but – depending upon where the vineyard is located, the state of the vines and fruit, and the potential for the fruit to continue to improve – it can be the best possible way to guarantee that the resulting wine will be of the best possible quality.

So, ’scrambling’ was perhaps a good idea for some varieties/producers/vineyards, but may have been a mistake for others.

CB: Thanks Chris!

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Last week we reported that harvest was in full gear and things continue to be busy in these parts.

Each morning as we make our pre-dawn trek to St. Helena we’re seeing crews in the vineyards picking in hopes of beating the heat of the day and we’ve noted a dramatic increase in the number of large trucks travelling up-and-down Highway 29 and Silverado Trail carrying tons and tons of grapes.

Read on to learn what’s up at Piña Napa Valley, Swanson Vineyards and Smith-Madrone…

Piña Napa Valley
Winemaker Anna Monticelli noted that Cabernet Sauvignon picking is in full swing, but the winery’s Howell Mountain fruit will continue to hang on the vine for a while longer as it is their coolest appellation.

Last week we had very temperate weather. We brought in the rest of our Oakville and Rutherford fruit located on the eastern hillsides of the Napa Valley. The majority of our Yountville fruit was also harvested.

We are definitely moving into fall weather. The highs have moved into the seventies and the lows are in the forties. Sunday was even cooler with the high in the sixties and the low in the thirties.

On Monday this week, we began harvesting our D’Adamo Cabernet, located in between the Atlas Peak and Oak Knoll AVAs. Our Howell Mountain Cabernet will continue to hang on the vine as it is our coolest appellation. We must carefully watch the forecast as there could be potential rain a week from now.

When we began harvest, our earliest ripening vineyards came in 1-2 weeks later than in the past 2 years. Slowly, the other vineyards caught up and are now at the same level of ripening as they were the past couple years. At this point, this harvest is more condensed. The fruit quality is great. Sugars are lower for corresponding levels of phonological ripeness. Hopefully the weather continues to cooperate for our cooler vineyard sites.

Swanson Vineyards
Vineyard Manager Ross Hall informed us they’re done harvesting their own fruit in Oakville, leaving only the fruit from their growers to go before calling it a wrap on this year’s harvest.

Swanson’s own grapes are “all in.” The only harvesting we have left is Cabernet Sauvignon from our growers. When that is all in, sometime next week, then “Harvest 2009” for Swanson will be complete. And what a harvest it has been. The fruit berry size is consistent, flavors and colors are wonderful, complexity and aroma is truly amazing.

Our excitement in anticipation of what we feel are going to be the spectacular wines to follow is contagious. Both white and red varieties should produce some of the decades best wines. Prepare yourself for the 2009 vintage wines. They are going to be a great tasting experience.

Smith-Madrone
Managing partner Stu Smith provided an update from Spring Mountain, where some wineries still have white varietals out and others should completely finish their harvest this week.

It appears that this week will be much more active than last week, with a big push into Cabernet Sauvignon. Francois at Cain says they’re “working hard” on the Cabernet, as is Schweiger. Most are waiting on Cabernet Franc. Spring Mountain Vineyard still has some Sauvignon blanc out and Pride still has some Chardonnay out. Several wineries should finish this week.

For Smith-Madrone the 2009 Chardonnay and Riesling produced a smaller crop than in 2008. With the exception of the Cabernet franc crop being larger than last year, the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are about the same as 2008, which means below average yields of approximately 2 ½ tons per acre. Most of the winemakers and growers that I’ve spoken to agree that this is a very good vintage. Yet as all harvests go, this one seems to have its quirks too; there seems to be less predictability as to tonnage and maturity between blocks within vineyards and from vineyard site to vineyard site. More of the subtle quirks of the harvest won’t be recognized until the holiday parties start up and we all get together and begin to compare notes.

Visit the Harvest 2009 category for full coverage.

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Two big themes come through loud and clear in this week’s update from our three local wineries.

First, the big news is harvest is finally in full swing across the valley. From up on Spring Mountain at Smith-Madrone, to Swanson Vineyards in Oakville and Piña Napa Valley in Rutherford, fruit is reaching its ideal stage and is being brought in from the vineyards to the wineries. The other theme is a decidedly optimistic view of the 2009 harvest–with each winery noting some high quality fruit coming in.

Read on for the full updates…

Smith-Madrone
Managing Partner Stuart Smith commented on the upbeat feelings towards this year’s harvest and the comfortable spacing between varietals to date…

A very hot week is now past us and harvest is getting harder to generalize. Some of us are finished with Merlot and some are still waiting. Cain, 7 & 8 and Smith-Madrone believe the flavors and sugars are right for picking Cabernet straight through and others like Keenan and Schweiger are just picking around the edges. Even with the heat, it’s been a pleasant harvest with good spacing between varieties, adequate tank capacity and no panic – we’re all pretty up about this harvest.

Swanson Vineyards
Vineyard manager Ross Hall explained what impact the latest heat wave to hit the valley last weekend had on the red varietals…

Harvest is underway in a very big way. The last warm (read hot) spell jolted our vines into “hyper drive” as sugar content and fruit maturity developed at a rapid pace, bringing on the onset of our red variety harvest. This past week began with us bringing in our first Merlot grapes. Our Merlot harvesting continued through the week and should finish up in another week.

After the Merlot is all in, it looks as if the patiently waiting Cabernet Sauvignon will be at its peak and ready for harvest. With the weather cooling off a bit, conditions should slow down the Cabernet enough to allow us to finish up Merlot quietly before starting our Cab harvest.

Imagine that! The weather cooperating to allow us to harvest in varietal order without the usual anxiety of finding tank space, pushing press crews to their limit or worrying over grapes that are ready but we can’t bring in because “there’s no room in the winery.”

We are all still exited over the high quality of the fruit this year, both white and red. The yields are not huge, more toward a moderate tons/acre year, but the quality is excellent. 2009 certainly is going to be a memorable year as the wines we’re able to produce with this year’s crop are going to be award winners, without a doubt.

Piña Napa Valley
Partner John C. Piña noted the winery finished picking in both Rutherford and Oakville earlier this week…

We are finally in full speed ahead. We are no longer just selectively harvesting the clusters that are showing a little shrivel, regular harvest is in full swing. We picked the last of our Rutherford this morning and the Oakville. The fruit looks and tastes great.

Don’t forget about our other Harvest 2009 coverage.

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This week brought us the autumnal equinox, meaning Summer is officially behind us and Fall is here.

As for the local wine grape harvest, things are still trudging along quite slowly as generally mild temperatures continue to be the norm in the Napa Valley.

Regardless, we’ve got some good updates this week from Smith-Madrone, Swanson Vineyards and Piña Napa Valley…

Piña Napa Valley
Winemaker Anna Monticelli noted that very select blocks of Cabernet are beginning to be brought in from the winery’s Yountville and Oakville vineyards…

We had some warm temperatures last week, with Thursday and Friday as the hottest days. On Wednesday we harvested select clusters of Cabernet Sauvignon from a few blocks in our Wolff Vineyard in Yountville and the Ames Vineyard in Oakville. On Friday we brought in the Cabernet from 3 of the blocks of our estate Firehouse Vineyard in Rutherford. It cooled down a little over the weekend. The forecast showed a heat wave for the first half of this week with temperatures in the hundreds so we harvested select clusters on the vine from some different blocks in our Wolff Vineyard.

Sometimes it is necessary to go through the vineyard and harvest only some of the clusters on a vine rather than all the fruit at once. Generally this happens when we have more extreme temperatures and some of the clusters are more affected by the heat than others. It’s more expensive to make several passes through the vineyard but it is the best way to ensure that all of the grapes are harvested at optimum ripeness. I typically find that we don’t need to do this later during the harvest season when the temperatures are more moderate.

So far this season I’m finding that sugars are lower than in 2007 and 2008 for the corresponding level of flavor, aroma and tannin maturity. We’ve just started harvesting our Cabernet so we will see if this trend continues.

Swanson Vineyards
Vineyard manager Ross Hall predicted that ‘heavy picking’ will take place late this week or early next…

We’re still anxiously waiting to get started on our “red grape” harvest. We have picked 7 tons of Syrah to date but are still waiting for our Merlot, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot to reach full maturity. We’re very close and fully expect to be starting a heavy picking schedule late this week and early next.

Our red varieties are developing nicely and we’re very pleased with acidity and tannin expression in our mouths during field sampling and tasting. Again, we are looking forward with great anticipation to what we feel are going to be some very fine wines from these grapes.

Crop management of the red varieties has been a little tricky this year, but it’s now obvious that the extra effort is really going to pay off. We’ve kept crop levels slightly lighter this year compared to previous years and have seen very little shatter, good cluster development with medium to large clusters full of almost perfectly sized berries. We’re convinced we’ve got a wonderful vintage on our hands and can’t wait until the wines are ready to drink. Prepare yourself for the 2009 vintage wines. They are going to be a great experience.

Smith-Madrone
Managing partner Stuart Smith detailed the situation up on Spring Mountain…

This past week was fairly quiet and despite the forecast for very hot weather not a lot seems to be changing for the upcoming week. Keenan and Schwieger will finish their Chardonnay; while Spring Mountain Vineyard should finish their Sauvignon Blanc leaving only the Pride Mountain Viognier as the last of the whites to be harvested on the mountain. Cain and York Creek Vineyard seem to be making a mild effort with reds this week, but most others are still waiting for another week or so.

We asked Smith if there was any concern with the continued waiting game that’s currently taking place generally throughout the valley and specifically on Spring Mountain. Here’s how he responded:

There are several issues to be concerned with, both positive and negative. Positive is that you hopefully allow the grapes to reach perfect maturity. On the negative side, waiting increases the chance you’ll run into rain, also the longer you wait the more the grapes respire out acidity, thus lowering the acidity and raising the pHs.

There’s a lot of conventional wisdom about the benefits of a long “hang-time,” but I don’t believe in it at all. If hang-time had validity, than the best vintages would be the latest ones, such as California’s 1998 El Nino year or the coolest years in Europe. Nature’s a lot more complicated than that.

And is there a certain date on the calendar where you’d really get worried if we’re still in the waiting stage?

Growing grapes is farming and farmers are always worried about the weather. What’s the long term forecast, is it a gentle southern storm or a strong early one from the north? How long will the current hot spell last, will the night time temperatures do? Worry goes with very vintage and yet it’s vintage dependent; this year is one of the coolest years ever; on the other hand the grapes seem to be self correcting and are pretty much on schedule. We are much earlier than the El Nino of 1998 and much later than 1980 and 1984. 1974 brought ten inches of rain during the harvest and in 1998 people were harvesting grapes in mid-November but without a lot of flavors. I remember Andre Tchelisteff telling me that he picked Cabernet once in the beginning of December; the weather held and the grapes finally got ripe. But in those days there was a lot of leaf roll virus; most of our vineyards today are leaf roll virus free, so they mature earlier than in the 1950s and 1960s and the plants are more efficient because the virus doesn’t interfere with photosynthesis.

Be sure to check-out all previous coverage of Harvest 2009.

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Earlier this week Robert Mondavi Winery hosted its 43rd annual ‘Blessing of the Grapes’ ceremony in Oakville.

The ceremony provides a chance to “…pause in the otherwise hectic pace of harvest, allowing winery staff to acknowledge one another and the turning of yet another season.”

Along with the ceremony, the winery also provided a quick update on where its 2009 harvest currently stands…

Petit Verdot grapes from the To Kalon vineyard make their way on to the sort table at Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville

Robert Mondavi Winery
Winemaker Genevieve Janssens shared details on the winery’s Oakville harvest thus-far. The winery has started to harvest Chardonnay and Merlot grapes and expects to begin picking Cabernet Sauvignon in approximately two weeks. Here’s what Janssens had to say:

The weather has been very cooperative. We have finished the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. We had some heat, but never more than two days in a row. The quality of the fruit is excellent. Everything fermenting at the winery is very aromatic and flavorful.

For more coverage of this year’s harvest, check out our special Harvest 2009 category.

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This past week has been an interesting one from a weather standpoint. Following a few days of hot weather, the weekend brought us a bit of rain, a lot of clouds and an overall sense that Summer is rapidly giving way to Fall.

Read on to learn what our three local wineries, Smith-Madrone, Swanson Vineyards and Piña Napa Valley, had to say about the rain and the current state of Harvest 2009 in the Napa Valley…

Piña Napa Valley
Assistant Winemaker Macario Montoya noted harvest remains about a week to a week-and-a-half behind last year…

Saturday and Sunday brought us our first rain in quite some time. Although the rain seemed heavy at times, the overall affect was not very noticeable. If anything, the rain washed the dust off the grapes. If it had continued to rain, then there would have been some concern as the vines would take up the water and transfer them to the grapes, creating bigger berries and altering the sugar levels. If the rain was followed by cool, humid conditions, those varietals with thinner skins would be susceptible to rot. Lucky for us this did not happen and the grapes remain content. This coming week will see us bringing in the first grapes of the season. That would currently put us about a week and half later than last year.

Swanson Vineyards
Vineyard Manager Ross Hall shared his thoughts on the wet weather, the state of the white grape harvest and the early stages of the red grape harvest…

Rain? What rain? Yes, some rain did fall in the Oakville area, true, but so little fell on Swanson Vineyards that the canopy completely protected the grape clusters. When we sampled this Monday morning, the clusters were dry. Not a bit of water or moisture on any of the grapes. All of the vineyards we buy grapes from were contacted this Monday, and all reported back to us the same conditions we observed at our own vineyard. So, obviously, we expect the little bit of rain we had to have absolutely no impact on sugar levels, pH or TA.

Harvest is progressing nicely, and all of our white grapes have been picked. Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Chardonnay clusters were all beautiful in color, nicely sized and produced some great tasting, clear, clean juice. We are all anticipating some really fine wines here in short order and our winemaker is expecting a banner year for our white wine products.

We’ve picked only a small amount of Syrah, which will be used to produce our dry style rose wine, which we call “Rosato.” Our red variety harvest has yet to start in earnest, with the cloudy weather that came with the rain slowing down sugar production somewhat. This could be beneficial as it gives more time for tannins to smooth and vegetative flavors to dissipate. The red varieties are looking really good on the vine, with well developed clusters, very little shatter and good consistency in berry size throughout.

Smith-Madrone
Managing Partner Stu Smith checked in from high atop Spring Mountain…

A lovely and welcome rain on Sunday night brought up to ¼ inch of rain to the upper reaches of Spring Mt. The rain settled the dust and cleaned off the vines. It is not at all unusual for late August or September have have such a storm bringing 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch of rain. Monday morning brought cool windy weather – perfect conditions for drying out the vines. I love these first little rains.

Had the storm been an inch or more and the following days warm and still…what can happen is the fog sits in the Valley until late morning and rot can start in some of the white varietals and can be especially bad in the Zinfandel. The Bordeaux varieties can take copious amounts of rain before any harm comes to them.

More: See Harvest 2009 for full coverage

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Another week is already half-over, which means it’s time to check-in with our three local vintners to see how (or shall we say if?) the 2009 harvest is coming along (others in the valley are much further along).

In the early mornings we’ve certainly noticed the sweet smell of fermenting grapes hanging in the air.

Read on for the updates…

Piña Napa Valley
Still waiting for harvest to kick in to high-gear, winemaker Anna Monticelli shared a few technical details on how the weather patterns this time of year can impact the fruit on the vines.

At this time of year, it is crucial for winemakers and viticulturalists to closely follow the weather. We look at warming and cooling trends, sun and fog exposure and rainfall. Warming trends accelerate ripening and more extreme heat spikes with strong sun exposure can cause grape dehydration, shriveling and raisining. Really high temperatures can shut down the vine stopping photosynthesis altogether and can cause yellowing of the basal leaves in the vine. Cooling trends and fog can slow ripening allowing for flavor development and tannin maturation without disproportionately high sugar accumulation. However, too much cooling can halt ripening in cooler climates. Small amounts of rainfall during harvest are insignificant but larger quantities can dilute flavors and can cause rot. Therefore it is imperative that we watch the weather so we can pick the grapes at their optimum ripeness during a particular vintage and so we can make any amendments to the vineyard if possible.

We just had a heat spike a week ago at the end of August with temperatures going above 100 degrees throughout the Napa Valley. Thankfully this intense heat was short lived. Our Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards at Piña Napa Valley fared well through the heat. There was hardly any shriveling or dehydration and the flavors continue to develop nicely. We are still at least a week away if not longer from beginning to harvest.

Smith-Madrone
Managing Partner Stuart Smith provided an overall update on the status of harvest on Spring Mountain and noted that his winery expects to start bringing in Chardonnay and Riesling late this week.

Stony Hill has started off the Spring Mt. District harvest with gewürztraminer and plans to go full bore this week with Chardonnay. Smith-Madrone will start late in the week with both Chardonnay and Riesling. The Keenan Chardonnay is still a week or more away from being ready to harvest. Most of the wineries on Spring Mt. don’t grow whites and thus are several weeks away from starting with reds. The white grape crop is heavier than normal with very high acidity, low pHs and small berries.

Swanson Vineyards
Vineyard manager Ross Hall detailed the winery’s Pinot Grigio crop and noted that Chardonnay was expected to start coming in right around now.

All our Pinot Grigio has been harvested and is at the winery in fomenters’. The fruit looked great, the juice after pressing looked, smelled and tasted fantastic. Lab analysis supports our personal sensory perception which has all of us here at Swanson’s excited about the marvelous prospects of our wine achieving our finest expectations. There’s little doubt now that our 2009 Pinot Grigio is going to be a sought after wine to go to for lighter fare, oriental foods and white meat entrees. We fully expect to produce a wine that will also be a delightful treat served alone as an aperitif.

I hate to sound overly optimistic, but I’m also looking forward to starting our Chardonnay harvest around the middle of [this] week (8 or 9 September), if our Oakville micro-climate remains as good to us as it has been for us in the past couple of weeks. The fruit on the vine looks wonderful and tastes wonderful too. Ideally sized clusters with small to medium size berries, almost perfectly colored with an excellent pH, TA balance.

Our Chardonnay wine style purposely avoids oak to ensure the Oakville terroir is strongly reflected in our wine without oak overtones diverting attention from the Chardonnay flavors we strive to achieve. We produce only a small lot of a very straight forward, fruity characteristic Chardonnay. Light, appealing, very approachable and uncomplicated. It is the detailed management effort devoted to our vines that allows us to bring Oakville from the field into the bottle. Our winemaker appreciates the effort made in the field to achieve our goals and approaches the fruit to apply the full extent of his knowledge and experience in carrying forward what was started in the field. The result is, to us, very satisfying with the end product being a work of art.

Be sure to hit up the Harvest 2009 category for additional coverage.

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