Napa Valley Harvest Update - White Wines

Great video.

Harvest just gets underway and I'm already tired.

I have to admit, some people wake up to see the sunrise and some sit outside and wait to see the sunset. Sadly, we miss both during harvest because our heads are hidden under the canopy of grape vines. Sometimes you look up and see something beautiful but you don't get a chance to process it because your scrambling to the next vine, or the next lug box or just running to keep up with your pickers.

During harvest in the Napa Valley/ Sonoma Valley it can sometimes feel like groundhog day. We end up seeing both - sunrise & sunset without actually seeing either. Do you know what I mean? Imagine if you will getting up before sunlight reaches the hill tops and not looking back until all the grapes are in the bins waiting for a new home - a barrel home. I think I'll visit my friends at Schug Winery and take some killer photo's for my next entry. Stay tuned.

A must see is the video real from my friend at b-napa

Bret Lyman - b-napa.com

Dixon May Fair - 2011

2011 Dixon May Fair - Video Visit a Winery - Video Archive Channel

Bud Break at Shafer Vineyards

Well done Doug Shafer. Such a perfect explanation as to where the valley is this time of year and how delicate the vines are for the months to come. Doug and his growing team work very hard on the maintenance of their vines and are rewarded by wonderful wines. Salute.

View more great stories by following the Napa Vintners on their facebook page.

Do you mind if I sit here, I'll be texting?

So I'm at the Direct to Consumer Conference (#dtcws) couple months ago and sat through a number of meetings and presentations. I enjoyed each of them and began to post information via twitter and tumblr. I could not help but notice that about 80% of the people in this conference were editorializing just like me and were busy posting information just like me. I took note of the #tag and began to follow the conversation. This lasted a good two hours before it was time for the lunch break.

Being the good school boy I am, I came back from lunch early and decided to change seats so I was closer to the exit - right, don't we all do that? Anyway, apparently there were a number of people who did the exact same thing. I found a seat just past a women three chairs in. Before sitting in the seat I asked, "do you mind if I sit there - I also plan to text while here so I hope that does not offend you?" She kindly smiled and said "no worries, I'm texting too". Cool, I proceeded to take my seat.

So I'm following the #dtcws conversation when all of a sudden the comment comes up "LOL, #dtcws best pickup line of the conference "Do you mind if I sit here, I'll be texting?". I see this and soon realized that the women who wrote that was sitting right next to me. I looked at her, showed her my iPhone and said "is this you?" She said yes with a smile then sheepishly proceeded to get up and leave.

There is no moral to this story other than, I wasn't looking to pickup on anyone, I just thought I was being polite. Second, careful what you say while using social media of any kind, you never know who the person next might be.
Cheers

Alston Park - Napa, California

Under the radar, Napa County Green Economy Report is announced.

Napa County Emerging
Green Economy

Even though this report received very little coverage when it was first unveiled January, I wanted you all to make sure you knew where you could downloaded a copy. The Emerging Green Economy report created by the Napa County Work Force Investment Board is available for download on the NCWFIB website http://www.napaworkforce.org/ .

The report is worth the review by both small and large businesses. It outlines the many efforts by local businesses to become more green through self-policing and various certification programs made available throughout the state.

Here’s an excerpt from the executive summary prepared by: Jim Cassio & Associates in association with Craft Consulting Group:

The emerging green economy is generating new job opportunities and a demand for workers with green knowledge, skills, and credentials. These job opportunities include both new jobs and traditional jobs that are adapting to changing market realities. While there is no single agreed upon definition of what constitutes the green economy, there is general consensus on the concept and scope. Broadly defined the green economy describes both: 1) products and services, as well as 2) business practices and processes that dramatically reduce the demand for energy and increase the efficient use of resources. In estimating the number of green jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics makes a distinction between establishments that: (1) produce green goods or provide green services and those that (2) use green business practices or environmentally friendly production processes.


Companies producing green products and providing green services cover a number of different market segments that have been described by the Cleantech Group, New Energy Finance, Environmental Business International, US Green Building Council, Next 10, and others. The production of green products and the provision of green services are considered by many to be the core green economy. This core green economy can be divided into various market segments covering clean technology, clean energy, green building, environmental technologies, and other sectors.


Over the past decade, organizations of all types and sizes in nearly every industry sector have started to adopt green business practices. By adopting green business practices businesses can improve their environmental performance while enhancing their bottom line. Third-party verification of green business practices validates a company’s claims that it has achieved a certain level of compliance and/or met the standards established by a credible third-party organization.


Napa County has adopted a certified green business program that is affiliated with ABAG’s Green Business Program and the Napa Green Certified Winery and Land program developed by Napa Valley Vintners. The certified green business and winery program is coordinated by the County’s Environmental Management Department which is responsible for providing information and technical assistance to local businesses about green business practices applicable to their industry. The goal of the Napa Green Business Program is to assist businesses of all types in complying with environmental regulations and going beyond compliance to adopt voluntary standards in four areas: energy-efficiency; water conservation; pollution prevention; and solid and hazardous waste reduction and recycling. Many of the certified green businesses fall into more than one market segment.


For the purposes of this study, to avoid duplication, companies that have adopted green business practices and also produce green products and/or services are listed in the later category and not listed as a certified green business. Green Vineyards and Wineries, for example, were listed only in that category. As a result, this study identified 174 green businesses located in Napa County spread across several green market segments. Green product and service businesses comprise 1.2% of all businesses in Napa County. This compares favorably with the nation (0.9%) and state (1.0%). Almost two-thirds of the green businesses are located in the City of Napa (62.5%) followed by St. Helena (17.9) a distance second, and Calistoga (6.5%) with the third largest number of green businesses. American Canyon has the distinction of being Napa County’s second largest city, but the city with the fewest green businesses per capita.


Almost 95% of the green businesses are small firms with fewer than 100 employees. Green businesses with the largest number of employees include green wineries and remediation firms.


There are approximately 3,687 workers employed in Napa County green businesses. Green business employment represents 5.4% of the total employment in the county. Employment in green businesses cuts across a broad range of industry sectors with manufacturing, business support, and hospitality sectors having the largest number. However, employment in green businesses does not imply all are green jobs. The largest numbers of jobs are in businesses utilizing green business practices and production processes, including sustainable agriculture, green wineries and certified green businesses. Most of the jobs in these sectors involve occupations where there is no significant change in the work or skill requirements.


In contrast, jobs in businesses producing green products or providing green services are nearly always considered to be green jobs. These jobs account for approximately 1% of Napa County’s total private sector jobs. This compares favorably with the Pew study of the nation’s clean energy economy (0.7%) and Next 10’s study of the state’s core green economy (1.2%).


Many of the employers we surveyed seem confident that they will continue to add jobs over the next six months to two years. Although the survey was conducted during tough economic times, the majority of green business employers expect the number of jobs in their company to remain the same, and nearly one in five employers expect to add new workers over the next six months.

Jump to page 7 where the meat of this document begins.
Of the 174 green businesses in Napa County, more than 72 are Green Vineyards or Wineries. This is an impressive number. For a program still in its' infancy, there is a lot of hard working people making this the norm.

The largest green winery employer is Beringer Vineyard and Winery, that claims to have more then 500 employees here’s in the valley. Second comes Rubican Estate, then Charles Krug with 200 and 150 employees respectively.

There’s just some much more to this report, you’ll have to download it yourself.

Vintners Hall of Fame dinner at the CIA Greystone

The Official Invitation

Tonight I attended the Vintners Hall of Fame dinner at the Culinary Institute in St. Helena, CA. This is the fifth such event in so many years and thanks to my friends at Nomacorc, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend.

Let me start by saying WOW. I'm not sure what my expectations were before going but this is right up there as one of the "must attend" events in Napa Valley. While three of the inductees were from Sonoma County, the 2011 class of HOF'ers were nothing short of great.

Here's the list of this years inductees:

• Mr. Richard Graff (1937 - 1998) - Chalone Wine Group
• Mr. Joel Peterson - Ravenswood (No Wimpy Wines)
• Mr. August Sebastiani (1913 - 1980) - Sebastiani Winery
• Professor Vernon Singleton - U.C. Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology
• Louis "Bob" Trinchero - Sutter Home Winery
  
  

First there was the grazing before the induction of this class. The theme for the night was "Presidents Day" - get it? The wines poured during the initial reception featured wines poured at dinners at the White House - not Nickel and Nickel - the place where the President lives.

Vintner Hall of Fame - Free to the Public

Surrounded by previous hall-of-fame winners appearing in bronze busts on giant half-barrels and located within the second floor barrel room of CIA, there were ten (10) wineries being presented with example menus and cuisine from their respective night at the White House. The wineries included: Buena Vista Carneros, Chimney Rock Winery, Concannon Vineyard, Grgich Hills Estate, Iron Horse Vineyards, Jordan Vineyards & Winery, Korbel Champagne Cellars, Landmark Vineyards, Robert Mondavi Winery, and Schramsberg Vineyards. Someone asked me if I had a favorite. Well, I liked them all. As a native Californian it's wonderful to know these wineries represented us at the White House. It's a great opportunity for these wineries and we should be proud of them. Through the 80s we can attribute a lot of the pouring of CA wine to our California Chef Walter Scheib (CIA Grad '79) - The American Chef. No other Chef has promoted our California cuisine or wine better then he does. For those who may have never heard of Chef Walter (you must be in a wine cave), he was the Executive Chef for two presidents - Clinton and Bush - and authored the book White House Chef.

Chef Walter Scheib

After the grazing it was time for the induction speeches. What a fabulous tribute to the inductees. Once the speeches had concluded, Chef Walter Scheib lead us up to the top floor of CIA to the Teaching Kitchen. This space is surrounded by workstations where during the day 100+ students practice their trade with real-life tools-of-the-trade. Here among standing-room-only tables, seven more Chef's featured an amazing tour of culinary delight and of course more wine pairings. NOTE: You have to show some discipline at these types of events. The Valley is a dangerous place to drive so I always recommend spitting. Yes I said it - spit, taste then spit. The pleasure for me comes in the form of the taste and not getting plowed. Besides, you can appreciate the various characteristics of the wines if you take your time and taste. Thank you Todd Humphries (amazing mushroom soup); Polly Lappetito, Dominic Orsini, Jeffrey Starr, David Thater and Congressman Mike Thompson for a wonderful tour of epi-delight. BTW - Congressman Mike Thompson had a wonderful asparagus risotto - I coined the name "Blue Dog Risotto" - guess you had to be there. Chef Walter also mixed it up with his fabulous sesame-crusted halibut with curried sweet potato soup - yumm.

Brother Timothy - Inducted 2007

The night concluded with a glance over my shoulder at the beautiful Greystone buildings and a thought of the dedicated Christian Brothers - and Brother Timothy - would he (they) be proud of tonight? People Magazine once asked Brother Tim - "In a religious order devoted to education, how does Brother Timothy justify his vocation?"  "Oh, gosh," he replied. "I can answer that a thousand different ways. Wine-making is an art form—it expresses something of yourself. And in the Scripture, the first miracle Christ performed was turning water into wine. If Christ made wine, I don't feel ashamed to be involved with it."

Salute Brother Tim!

The results are in - 2010 Crush Report

The report is final and in the hands of the press throughout the globe. Here is an excerpt from the introduction from the report.

SUMMARY OF GRAPE TONNAGES AND PRICES
The 2010 crush totaled 3,980,229 tons, down 3 percent from the 2009 crush of 4,095,297 tons. Red wine varieties accounted for the largest share of all grapes crushed, at 2,047,766 tons, down 1 percent from 2009. The 2010 white wine variety crush totaled 1,535,133 tons, down 6 percent from 2009. Tons crushed of raisin type varieties totaled 273,577, down 11 percent from 2009, and tons crushed of table type varieties totaled 123,753, up 46 percent from 2009. 

Beginning with the 1999 season, the Grape Crush Report includes the total number of tons crushed for concentrate production. In determining grape tonnage crushed for concentrate production, each processor was required to report the estimated equivalent tons of grapes crushed for grape concentrate. For the 2010 season, this total was 535,794 tons, approximately 13 percent of the 2010 grape crush total. This report provides only the aggregate figure for grapes crushed for concentrate production and does not include information by district, type, or variety.

The 2010 average price of all varieties was $543.03, down 5 percent from 2009. Average prices for the 2010 crop by type were as follows: red wine grapes, $625.19, down 7 percent from 2009; white wine grapes, $500.37, down 7 percent from 2009; raisin grapes, $209.32, up 22 percent; and table grapes, $173.81, up 21 percent.

To view the entire report click here.

GOVERNOR BROWN APPOINTS CRAIG MCNAMARA

Is this good for our wine industry?

GOVERNOR BROWN APPOINTS CRAIG MCNAMARA AS PRESIDENT OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

Release #11-005
Print This Release
SACRAMENTO, February 10, 2011– Governor Jerry Brown has named Craig McNamara as president of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture.
“Governor Brown has made an excellent choice in appointing Craig as president of the board,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “Craig is dedicated to the agricultural community of this state and will work tirelessly to ensure the sustainability of our food and farming system. California’s farmers and ranchers, along with our diverse stakeholder community, can have no better champion.”

McNamara has served on the California State Board of Food and Agriculture since 2002. McNamara has been the president of the Center for Land-Based Learning since 1993 and the president of Sierra Orchards since 1980. Previously, he was a partner at Bountiful Harvest Food Company. McNamara is a member of the Public Policy Institute of California, the American Farmland Trust and Roots of Change.

The California State Board of Food and Agriculture advises the governor and secretary of food and agriculture of findings as they impact agriculture and consumer needs. The board conducts forums that bring together local, state, and federal government officials, agricultural representatives, and citizens to discuss current issues of concern to California agriculture.

The next meeting of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture is scheduled for February 23, 2011 at CDFA.

Old Vines Rock

Old Vines Rock - A little fun I had with www.blabberize.com

Seriously 80 degrees?

Tourist Enjoying the Valley

It's hard to imagine living anywhere else when the weather is as amazing as it is this weekend. That's right it's Superbowl weekend and it's 80 degrees.

Even though both my wife and I are California natives (Northern California) we lived in West Des Moines, Iowa for about five years. The winters there were, dare-I-say, winterish. Sunday morning was spent throwing ice melt on the ground and scraping ice off the car windshields just so we could pack up and head off to church. Two hours later and do it all over again to get our car into the garage. During Superbowl weekend we'd bundle up and meet friends for a feast and stare out the window hoping for "Phil" to promise a quick end to the winter.

Well, it's been fifteen years since we've been back and I have to say there are only parts of that experience I miss. I truly miss some of the friendship we created while living there but do not miss the "real winter" experience.

I remember one Superbowl weekend in Iowa where a couple friends and I decided we needed to puff on a cigar and claim some manliness during the halftime show. Wrapped in parkas' we headed out to the garage. The puffing soon started and it was not long before we realized what a crazy idea this was. It was so cold that the cigar tip would freeze before we could get it back into our mouth for another puff. Twenty minutes later we were back inside watching the second half.

Today I'm in shorts and headed for a basement poker game to watch the game. No I won't be pruning or hoeing and not really caring if it's the Pack or Steelers. I'm taking a break. Thanks for the clear - warm - day.

Adding a Sustanability officer to your winery.

I volunteered the following opinion for Trinchero Family Estates in 2008. By 2009 they had hired a Director of Sustainability and many wineries have followed suit.

Let’s start this discussion by looking at the senoir management positions at a taditional winery (40,000 cases or more).

Let's look at the following executive management positions:

• Operations
• Human Resources
• Sales/Marketing
• Communications
• Wine Making 
• Vineyard Management.

---

Operations

• Oversees financial accountability and controls
• Oversees organization’s budget process; establishes time-lines; provides support to management team; holds management team accountable for process
• Manages the administrative requirements
• Manages in-house support staff and supporting consultants and vendors
• Manages the development, implementation annual budgeting process:
• Coordinates with the President, Vice President for Community Affairs
• Oversees office space and office systems needs, purchasing equipment, supporting hiring processes, time-sheets, expense reimbursement, securing insurance, etc
• Oversees preparation of an annual report, other outreach materials and the website
• Acts, as needed, in the absence of the President and/or CEO

Human Resources

• Expert on employee relations, benefits, recruiting, retention, conflict resolution, discrimination, EDA, labor laws and safeguarding company vision from a staffing point of view.
• Sometimes responsible for in-house communications, training and staff events.
• And much more!

Sales/Marketing

• Direct and coordinate company sales and marketing functions.
• Manage company compliance and allocation issues.
• Establish and implement short- and long-range goals, objectives, policies, and operating procedures.
• Supervise the planning and development of company marketing and communications materials.
• Direct and oversee the company marketing function to identify and develop new customers for products and category management. 
• Research and develop strategies and plans which identify marketing opportunities, direct marketing, and new project development.
• Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of sales, methods, costs, and results.
• Plan and coordinate public affairs, and communications efforts, to include public relations and community outreach.
• Directly manage major and critical developing client accounts, and coordinate the management of all other accounts.
• Represent the company at various community and/or business meetings to promote the company.
• Supervise the preparation, issuance, and delivery of sales materials, exhibits, and promotion programs.
• Establish and implement short- and long-range departmental goals, objectives, policies, and operating procedures.

Communications

• Develops and implements a comprehensive communications plan, with specific strategies and action plans to project a positive company image to both external and internal constituents.
• Promotes the company’s visibility in local, national, and international markets by identifying newsworthy stories and pitching these to the appropriate media: print, radio, television, and Internet.
• Manages the CEO’s relationships with the media and acts as his personal liaison. Also, accompanies the CEO to major media interviews and industry events.
• Monitors coverage of the Company in newspapers, industry publications, blogs, etc., keeps the CEO apprised of relevant information, and assists in formulating responses as needed.
• Assists in the preparation of Company overviews, briefing papers, brochures, talking points, annual reports, etc.

Winemaker - Enologists

• Communicate regularly with the viticulturists (grape growers)
• Conduct laboratory tests to monitor the grapes
• Decide on the best time for harvesting
• Oversee the crushing and pressing of the grapes
• Monitor the settling of the juice
• Oversee the fermentation and filtration process of the wine
• Conduct lab tests to monitor the maturation of wine
• Place wine in tanks or casks for maturation
• Prepare plans for bottling wine
• Supervise assistants
• Conduct winery tours
• Enologists have many, many tasks. Depending on the season, they will be involved in harvesting, fermenting, or bottling the wine. They also must always keep financial records and regular reports on the scientific tests when monitoring the wine's progress. Enologists get to work outside during harvests, and during the growing stages when the grapes are closely watched. They travel to wine shows, wine contests, and to other vineyards and wineries, to learn about other techniques and traditions.

Vineyard Management

• Operations Logistics and Supervision: (50%) – Schedule and direct the necessary cultural operations staff, monitoring the labor force in each area to ensure proper staffing and utilization of skills. Train, monitor and provide feedback related to staff performance and continuous development. Ensure timely completion of all necessary cultural practices within the goals of producing superior quality fruit.
• Planning: (25%) – Manage the short-term (weekly and daily) work. This includes making all decisions required to keep the appropriate viticultural activities on schedule, organizing work flow operations by calendarizing viticultural events/activities and determining necessary resources (staff, equipment, etc.) to accomplish the viticultural goals. Work with Director of Vineyard Operations and the Viticulturist to develop the weekly farm plan.
• Quality Assurance: (25%) – Understand all viticultural processes and standards; establish and monitor quality viticultural procedures and work performances during the development stages of all viticulture operations as directed by the winegrowing standards set by the vineyard Management team.

Why VP of Sustainability?

• Management team responsibility without disrupting the flow of everyday business
• In-House strategic leader of all green initiatives driven by company vision, strategic plan and stake-holders.
• Expertise and conduit for supporting line managers as it relates to external and internal communities
• Community and civic responsibilities.
• Mapping - lead in mapping results, assets and efforts towards measurable green efforts.

Job duties for new VPS

• Management team responsibility without disrupting the flow of everyday business
• Developing, managing and tracking corporate sustainability goals and metrics for the business.
• Developing systems for making bottom-line decisions for growing, customer relations, wine production and fulfillment business practices. Working with teams to evaluate decisions based on financial and sustainability goals.
• Managing cross-functional task force team to assist them in developing their key performance indicators and meeting the overall corporate sustainability goals. Tracking the task force progress and measuring each department's success.
• Preparing yearly summary of goals and achievements and assisting in development of a CSR report when appropriate. Promoting industry leading best practices in sustainability for product design, development, manufacturing, sourcing, and distribution. Advising teams on how to find environmental benefits and managing social issues.
• Managing all budgets and savings of  sustainability and recommending utilization of funds.
• Assisting in managing and developing sustainability communications internally and externally with key stakeholders. Maintaining industry research and understanding of sustainability trends, thought leaders, and conferences.
• Creating continual educational opportunities on trends and innovations in sustainability field for company employees.    
• Expertise and conduit for supporting line managers as it relates to external and internal communities, Community and civic responsibilities.
• Mapping - lead in mapping results, assets and efforts towards measurable green efforts.

VPS Position Requirements

• Solid Management Experience.
• Diverse background - farming, marketing, production, communications and community activism.
• Complete fiscal and P&L understanding.
• An individual with BA or BS degree in communications, with proven experience with environmental/sustainability practices.
• Business or marketing and a minimum of 10 years working experience.
• Ability to travel, ability to work in a team and fast paced environment, exceptionally strong written and oral communication skills required.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, Database and PowerPoint and must be able to work professionally with flexibility in handling multiple priorities.
• This position requires a results-oriented individual who has exceptional organizational skills, strong attention to detail, excellent communication and grammatical skills, planning, and scheduling skills.