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Sauvignon Blanc Harvest

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Sauvignon Blanc harvest

Sauvignon Blanc harvest begins in the Napa Valley

Sauvignon Blanc Harvest begins in the Napa Valley

August 30, 2018, begins the Sauvignon Blanc harvest in the Napa Valley. From this date through the next two weeks most of the Sauvignon Blanc will be picked and crushed for the 2018 vintage. These Sauvignon Blanc grapes are from a small and hidden winery in St. Helena. The vineyard owner is a famous art gallery proprietor in San Francisco. These Sauvignon grapes are headed to the Cade winery in Howell Mountain. This August was below average in temperature and the cool temperatures delayed the harvest for about one week.

The St. Helena Sauvignon Blanc harvest in these photos was in the early morning hours. Overcast skies enabled the harvest crew to pick easily and without much duress. All in all, this appears to be a fantastic harvest. Time will tell.

Sauvignon blanc harvest 2018

Sauvignon Blanc harvest – early morning rush

 

St. Helena Wine Country

Harvest Activity in the Napa Valley

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Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Sauvignon

Harvest Activity in the Napa Valley – Cab is left

It is the first day of Fall in Napa Valley wine country. The over 100-degree weather on the Labor Day Weekend hastened the harvest of many vineyards. Despite the intense heat, there are plenty of grapes still to be harvested in the Napa Valley. Since those hot days, the weather has shifted to cooler than average temperatures, slowing down the harvest. It is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon left to be harvested, but I did also spot some Cabernet Franc and Syrah on the vine. I shot this photo near the Flora Springs Winery in the St. Helena AVA on Zinfandel Lane. The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes look gorgeous and ready to be picked. If you want to catch the harvest in the Napa Valley, time is getting short. This coming weekend might be the last hurrah. Head towards the northern end of the Valley. Look in the early morning hours of the day to spot the rush of harvester furiously working to get the grapes off the vine.

St. Helena Wine Country

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St. Helena AVA - Wine Appellation

St. Helena AVA – Wine Appellation

St. Helena Wine Country

For our Wine Country Photo of the Day, the focus is St. Helena Wine Country and its Wine Appellation or AVA. The town of St. Helena is one of the most popular wine country towns. There are many tasting rooms, restaurants, and boutique shopping along Main Street. There are many interesting things to do in St. Helena besides wine and food. Taste olive oil, visit the Culinary Institute, and visit art galleries. Close by wineries are Hall, Beringer Vineyards, Charles Krug, and Louis Martini.

Gott’s Roadside Café- St. Helena

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Gott's Roadside in St. Helena

Gott’s Roadside in St. Helena

Gott’s Roadside Café in St. Helena – The original

Just south of the downtown business area of St. Helena as one drives along Highway 29, it is hard not to notice the activity at Gott’s Roadside Café. Just about any time of the day, the Café is busy with lines of people and crowded tables. What a bonanza for the brothers Joel and Duncan Gott.  The Gotts purchased Taylor’s Refresher drive-in Café in 1999. It was, at that time, a 50-year-old establishment that needed some spark to match the changing times. Who would have imagined the amazing crowds and the popularity of this spot? It has been so successful that the brothers Gott have opened three other roadside Cafés. There is one at the Oxbow Market in Napa, at the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco, and at the latest location in Palo Alto.  The service is quick and organized. The prices are respectable and best of all the food is tasty. Wine and beer are also available. For those needing a quick and easy meal, Gott’s Roadside Café is an excellent choice. It may look busy, but the lines move quickly.

Addition Dining Information for the Napa Valley

Healthy looking vines

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grape-vines-july

Healthy looking vines in St. Helena

For our wine country photograph of the day we choose a photo of a St. Helena vineyard. The vines look very healthy with the shoots reaching for sunlight and forming a lovely canopy. This is a spectacular time to be in wine country.

Advice for wine country travelers

Young Inglewood Vineyards – Napa Valley Boutique Winery

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Young Inglewood off the beaten path in St. Helena

Jim Young Vintner

Owner Jim Young talks about harvesting Cabernet Sauvignon very soon

For those who enjoy visiting Napa Valley boutique and hidden gems, is one to add to your list of must explore wineries.  The winery produces only 600 cases of wine and the location is hidden near the end of Inglewood Avenue. Inglewood Avenue branches off Highway 29 in St. Helena. Young Inglewood Vineyards is run by Jim and Jacky Young. Jacky and son Scott are the co-winemakers. The name of the winery comes from Jim and Jacky’s affection for Burgundy and Bordeaux. In most cases the wineries in France have the family name and the village name connected with the name of the winery, thus Young Inglewood. Young Inglewood is a certified Napa Green winery. I was surprised to learn from Jim Young that among the hundreds of wineries in the Napa Valley only 40 are certified green. It’s a vigorous test to meet these standards and perhaps that is why so few wineries in the Napa Valley can meet the requirements.  Young Inglewood has 17.6 acres planted to the Bordeaux grapes with most of that Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  Their Chardonnay is sourced from vineyards in the Oak Knoll AVA of the Napa Valley. Also in the vineyard mix is a small plot of Aligoté vineyards.  What, you never heard of the Aligoté grape?  It is likely that this is the only plot of Aligoté grown in the Napa Valley and perhaps all of California. The Aligoté grape is Burgundy’s second white wine grape. It is tasty crisp white wine and less expensive than the Chardonnay wines produced in Burgundy. The vines at Young Inglewood are only two years old so we will have to wait for what will certainly be a very small production wine.

Aligote vines

2 year old Aligote vines

The 17.6 acres of vineyards planted at Young Inglewood sit on the middle of an alluvial fan of a gravely loam soil. This according to Jim Young is some of the best soil in the entire Napa Valley. The roots grow deeply in search of water. Jim states that they irrigate established vines only four times per year.  In the red varieties the ideal is to strive for an earlier harvest than most. Harvesting earlier than normal means more acidity and less sugar in the grapes. This results in a balanced wine that is very food friendly wine as in the style of Bordeaux. The red wines spend anywhere from 18 to 20 months in French oak barrels, 50% which are new.

tasting at Young Inglewood

The sit down tasting room

Visiting Young Inglewood Vineyards

Visitors to Young Inglewood are all done by appointment. The tasting and touring fee is $40 per person and last from one to one and half hours. We tasted four wines ranging in price from $27 for a delicious Rosé to $90 for an amazing and stunning 2011 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. We were impressed by the quality of the wines and more so by the passion and care that go into making the wines. A very cool wine label sums it all up. The tightrope walker on the label signifies balance. It is a constant reminder to all those at the winery that everything done at the winery must lead to a balance. I think it is great philosophy for all of us. balanced-wine

 

A snipet from Vintner Jim Young on his winery

Additional Napa Valley travel tips

Napa Valley Rain Water

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napa valley rain water

Captured rain water in the Napa Valley

The Napa Valley needs water! California needs water! This is a welcome sight in the Napa Valley wine country. Recent rains have dumped several inches of water on Napa Valley vineyards and elsewhere in California. Some of this vital rainwater is captured and directed into wells for use later in the vineyard growing season. Later this week another big storm is predicted to hit the area. The big question remains: Will the year 2015 bring us back to normal or above normal rainfall? This photo was taken near the Ballentine Vineyards in the St.Helena area of the Napa Valley. Water is directed into a large drainage ditch that runs the length of the vineyards. What a beautiful time of the year in the Napa Valley!

St. Helena Wine Route – wineries near St. Helean on Highway 29

Napa Valley Cabernet in November

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Napa Valley Cabernet November

The remnants of the 2014 harvest in the Napa Valley

Napa Valley Cabernet in November

This is the same St. Helena vineyard I have been photographing since May. Napa Valley Cabernet in November is entering its dormant stage. The vines will now sleep until the warmth of the Spring days beckons the vines to once again do their magic and produce grapes for wine. Not much work is done in the vineyards in November. Pruning is usually done in the late Winter. In this particular vineyard, the vineyard management team is getting ready for what they hope will be a rainy winter. Trenches are being dug to direct the water to accumulate for well water. Now is a good time to visit the wine country for two reasons. The Fall colors are dramatic. There are far fewer tourists in the Napa Valley at this time of the year. The exception is the Thanksgiving Weekend, which marks the last hurrah for the tourist season in wine country.

Additional Information on the St. Helena area of the Napa Valley

Grandview Hotel in St. Helena

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grandview-hotel

Historic Acacia House built in 1907 will become the Grandview Hotel

About the Grandview Hotel in St. Helena

This is the old Acacia House that was built in 1907. It sits up on a hill directly opposite Pratt Road in St. Helena. It is also next door to the beautiful, historic Beringer Vineyards. The old Acacia House is being remodeled and restored and will become the Grandview Hotel, a 57-room luxury hotel. Completion date for the Grandview is set for the Spring of 2016. The hotel will also house an upscale restaurant, a spa, meeting rooms, and have a large grassy area for various events . This hotel development comes on top of two other hotel projects to the north. The Freemark Abbey Winery is set to break ground on a hotel and wedding center that will have some 90 rooms. Over on the Silverado Trail, and across from the Solage Resort, the Silver Rose Resort construction is just about to begin. The Silver Rose Resort will have 84 rooms and include a restaurant, a winery, and 20 private homes. In downtown Napa, the Archer Hotel is set to begin construction in the Fall of this year. Read more about the the Napa Valley developments in this article,  the Napa Valley is Booming,

It is rather amazing to see all these hotel developments taking place at once. What will the result be in terms of traffic congestion and the impact on existing hotels, B&B’s and motels in the area between St. Helena and Calistoga? Traffic in downtown St. Helena crawls on weekends and the same can be said for afternoons on weekdays. Will our economy continue to grow and attract more and more visitors to the Napa Valley? These are big companies that are developing these hotels, and I am sure they have done enough research and studies to indicate a successful investment in these projects.

Additional information on St. Helena hotels and restaurants

Napa Valley Cabernet in June

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Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon on June 11, 2014 - Revana Vineyards

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon on June 11, 2014 – Revana Vineyards

Napa Valley Cabernet in June

This photo of Napa Valley Cabernet was taken on June 11, 2014, in the St. Helena AVA. The photo shows the current development of Cabernet Sauvignon on the Valley floor. The leaves and berries look very healthy and Napa Valley Cabernet appears to be in line for a great harvest year. This vineyard is owned by the Revana Family Vineyards in St. Helena. Revana Family Vineyards is a small family-owned winery that specializes in high-end Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyard is sustainably farmed. On this day the vineyard was in morning fog with the sun breaking through around 10:30 a.m. The afternoon was warm and a cooling breeze swept the vineyard in the late afternoon and early evening.

Important Napa Valley resources

Napa Valley Wine Trails
St. Helena Lodging
St. Helena Restaurants
Winery Finder and Trip Planner – Napa Valley

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