Winemaker Pauline Lhote Calls the Harvest Mood in Napa Valley ‘Celebratory’ and Fruit Quality ‘Excellent’ Despite Water Challenges this Growing Season   Sparkling wine maker Chandon California officially and ceremoniously announced the start of Napa Valley’s wine harvest on August 4th, with Head Winemaker Pauline Lhote calling one of the first picks of the 2021 Read the full article…

Here’s the grape report so far for Napa Valley’s 2021 Harvest: July 30th – St Supéry – SB from Dollarhide (Napa Valley AVA) August 3rd – Honig SB (Napa Valley AVA, southeast corner of Napa County) August 3rd – Mumm (Chard for sparkling from Pope Valley) August 4th – Chandon (Chard for sparkling from their Read the full article…

We caught up with Rebekah Wineburg, winemaker at Quintessa & Illumination, to chat about crop load for Napa Valley’s 2021 vintage. In a normal year in Rutherford (in the center of Napa Valley), they would normally do 2 passes to “drop fruit”, but this year due to less growth, they have only done one pass Read the full article…

“What we lost in quantity in 2021 we’ll make up for with exceptional quality and flavor concentration. Every year is different in the vineyards, and just like our colleagues at Chandon’s six wineries around the globe, we know that delicious sparkling wine is not just a matter of growing conditions and harvest, but also a Read the full article…