The last of the winter chores were done after harvest, to put the vineyard to bed for the winter. The bird netting and shade cloth used for last harvest’s protection have been rolled up, marked with the row number, and put into the barn for storage until next summer. Compost has been shoveled onto the…
Following the devastation of the Glass Fire in September 2020, upon consultation with my vineyard manager I made the decision to try to replant the vineyard and re-install the infrastructure of the vineyard as soon as possible. With the lack of supplies and Covid restrictions, getting material and people to do the work took a…
From the beginning of the vineyard replanting process, the vineyard managers and I agreed to become as responsible to the environment and vineyard health as possible. We chose to use only organic material on the vines and surrounding hillside and become as regenerative in our farming goals as possible. I looked into replanting natives and…
Almost 4,000 bench-grafted vines (one year old 110 R rootstock grafted onto the Clone 7 Cabernet Sauvignon scion) went into the ground in the newly prepared vineyard in the middle of summer, 2021. With freshly worked soil, compost, biochar, mycorrhizae and soil amendments, along with drip irrigation every week, the baby vines flourished. In the…
Planting a vineyard from scratch is a process that usually takes years of planning and organization, but I didn’t feel that I had that much time to spare. Fortunately, I was able to convince my vineyard manager that I was determined and we should get going as soon as possible! With Covid still looming, there…
On the evening of October 8, we witnessed a furry of hurricane-force winds, the likes of which had never been seen in Wine Country before. Starting in the northwestern section of the Napa Valley, at the foot of Mt. St. Helena north of Calistoga and traveling west towards Santa Rosa, trees fell onto power lines…
Greetings, friends! It’s been a busy growing season so far, so it must be time for an update on our vineyard progress. The generous rains that we experienced at the end of 2016 and throughout the winter and spring of 2017 have been a boon to our little hillside vineyard. Though twice the average rainfall is…
Our 2016 estate harvest was one for the books. Please enjoy this visual journey of the day… https://vimeo.com/194197150 Photographs by Emma Kruch Morris // Video by Matt Morris
We’re off to the races! On Sept. 1, we harvested 5.5 tons of fruit from Mello Vineyard in Yountville — half Sauvignon Blanc, and half Sauvignon Musque. This beautiful fruit was pressed off the next day after extended skin contact, then started fermentation in two stainless steel tanks with a few different yeasts. They’re now…
Although 2012 through 2016 have been deemed drought vintages, we continue to receive anywhere from 60% to 90% of our normal annual rainfall. But the reality is that rainfall amounts and weather patterns vary widely from year to year locally. While many other vineyards in the Napa Valley are claiming that this is the earliest…