Walking in the vineyard every morning sounds relaxing. And it is. But for Nova Cadamatre MW, Senior Director of Winemaking at Robert Mondavi Winery, it’s also part of her job. Every year at this time Nova, and other winemakers all over Napa Valley, put boots into the vineyard every morning to check on grapes.

And while they are hard at work testing in the lab getting ready for harvest, one of the most important “tests” is putting their years of knowledge to work in the simple act of tasting the grapes. Winemakers are looking for the perfect balance of flavors to know when to pick. Test don’t tell them this. The best way they can know is to taste and then taste and then taste again.