If you thought the English liked to talk about the weather, you’d be right. But it seems the Californians have an even greater penchant for climatic conditions.
There’s a double page spread devoted to the weather in the San Francisco Times on a Sunday to satiate people’s appetite for the forecast, and there are constant updates on every TV channel.
So, as an English girl in California, it only seems appropriate to discuss the weather. Today, in Napa, it is mostly raining, giving vintners plenty to discuss in the middle of harvest. So much for bringing suntan lotion – there was a group of poncho-wearing, umbrella-carrying master sommelier and master of wine students to be found traipsing around the region.
It has been all systems go this weekend for producers with thin-skinned grape varieties such as Pinot Noir with the rains on their way. Thicker skinned varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, which makes up 40% of the region’s crush, are still out and producers are saying they’re not too worried about dilution as there is better weather ahead (probably once I’ve left!) Thus far it’s been a cool season and some producers are expecting to harvest as late as November.
More on the season thus far and the Napa seminar tomorrow but I’ll leave you with a few Napa facts before signing off…
- Napa accounts for just 4% of California’s production, which equals 0.4% of the world’s wine production;
- It has 15 sub appellations;
- 77% of the Napa Valley Vintners’ memebers make fewer than 10,000 cases of wine a year;
- It is 36 miles from the Pacific Ocean and 48 miles from San Francisco;
- More than 100 different soils have been found in the region.
