The Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) trade association reports that the first of Napa Valley’s sparkling wine producers begin picking grapes today, two days earlier than the start of last year’s wine grape harvest. Although this past winter was one of the driest on record, Napa’s vintners and growers are predicting an abundant, high-quality harvest for the third year in a row.
“Late and very welcome spring rains set us up well in this otherwise dry year,” said Ludovic Dervin, winemaker for Mumm Napa. “Thanks to the long, moderately warm spring, even flowering, good fruit set and few heat spikes, we’re looking forward to bringing in some beautiful fruit and maybe even an above-average yield.”
To virtually capture the spirit of the Napa Valley harvest, the NVV invites wine enthusiasts from anywhere in the world to follow the action over the coming weeks on its Harvest Napa Valley 2014 web page at napavintners.com/harvest. The page features up-to-the-minute social media posts and photos, often contributed directly by the winemakers themselves, capturing harvest in Napa Valley using #napaharvest; weekly updates drawn from vintner “reporters” working throughout Napa Valley; a harvest crossword puzzle, word search game and other test-your-harvest-knowledge quizzes; and a hand-illustrated depiction of the year-long life cycle of a fine wine grape explaining exactly what happens from vine to wine.
