It has been a wild fall and winter. Our apologies for not posting more updates. Here are some highlights:
Wine Enthusiast ratings: We just received word that our 2013 Napa Valley Red Wine is rated at 92 points and our 2015 Chardonnay is rated at 90 points!
Petaluma Gap AVA: At long last, Petaluma Gap has officially become California’s newest American Viticultural Area (AVA). Our Chardonnay grapes from Rodger’s Creek Vineyard are now part of this AVA rather than the much larger Sonoma Coast designation.
Why does this matter? We are happy because Petaluma Gap precisely denotes the growing conditions that make our Chardonnay particular: west-east winds from the Pacific; foggy mornings; sunny days; windy afternoons and cool evening temperatures. These conditions help preserve the natural acidity of the grapes over an extended growing season. That’s why our Chardonnay retains its crispness as the fruit slowly matures in these cooler temperatures.
That’s what we wanted in our Chardonnay and that’s why we chose the Petaluma Gap as the source of our fruit!
October Fires: Sunday October 9 was a dry, hot and windy day. As we turned in for the evening, we noted how unusual it was to feel 35-45 mph winds on an early fall evening.
Sometime after 1am, kind and persistent neighbors pounded on our doors and windows. Slow to respond, we only awakened when we heard their forceful words…”fire!” We scrambled with them to the highest point of our neighborhood. A mile north of our homes (just south of Artesa Winery in the Carneros area of Napa) flames were leaping east to west pushed by the high winds. We received the mandatory evacuation message. A resourceful and generous neighbor invited all of us in the immediate neighborhood to a private airplane hanger at the small Napa Airport. There, we all (8 people, 7 dogs) watched on TV the progress of the many fires across Sonoma and Napa. We also got a little sleep and a lot camaraderie.
Next day, we checked on our homes as the fires burned on. Very, very smoky but ok. We all then separately moved away for one week for the remainder of the evacuation period.
We remain so thankful for our neighbors’ vigilence and thoughtfulness. We suffered fear and disruption but nothing compared to those who occupied the 8,000+ homes and buildings destroyed by the fires. Santa Rosa was particularly hard hit.
For Silverpoint Cellars, our Chardonnay had already been picked and was fine. Sadly, however, we lost our entire crop of red grapes that had been scheduled to be harvested that week. The vines were not burned. Rather, the two week interruption of the entire industry (loss of power, nobody to pick the grapes, no safe place to take them) led to overripe fruit and smoky grapes. So, no Silverpoint Cellars Napa Valley Red Wine will be produced from the 2017 vintage. In barrels, however, we have the 2014, 2015 and 2016 vintages awaiting blending and bottling. Stay tuned!