Scott, Bill (our harvest intern) and I arrived today at the picking site on Lodi Lane in St. Helena to the happy sounds of the pickers singing. Since this was my first sauvignon blanc harvest, I asked the vineyard manager why they were so happy. He told me the pickers like Sauvignon Blanc. They get paid by weight and Sauvignon Blanc is heavy. It grows in tight clusters close to the shoots which makes it messy and sticky but they didn't seem to mind--this was going to be a lucrative day for them.
This was quite an exciting day for me because my favorite white wine is Sauvignon Blanc. Being German trained, Scott's is Riesling--that's why at one point we were making 4 Rieslings. (We are now paring it down to two). A few months ago, my friends and I were tasting a Sauvignon Blanc Scott made for another winery--Astrale e Terra and we were amazed how delicious it was. It was our friend, Suzy, who had been in the wine business for over twenty years, that convinced Scott he should be making that varietal for us, as well. Lo and behold, we were able to secure grapes from this terrific vineyard in the northern end of Napa Valley about a month ago--so it was meant to be. The wine will be under the Jana label since it's from Napa Valley and the Scott Harvey wines are from Amador. Look for the 2010 Jana Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc to be released around March 2011. I can't wait!
Sanitation in both types of water cooler is very important every three months or sooner if there has been any known contamination of your water cooler.
Posted by: reefer trailers | August 02, 2011 at 09:42 AM