Napa Valley Case Study

February seasonal temperatures in Napa Valley can be remarkably cool and wet, especially in the Spring Mountain District, high above the town of St. Helena. The mountainside vineyard elevations are anywhere from 400 to 2100 feet and rainfall is usually abundant during the winter season, although much of California has experienced drought conditions the past three years. However, the northern part of the state, especially those areas north of the Golden Gate, have received a respectable amount of moisture this winter. Beginning with October of last year and measuring rainfall through February 2015, Keenan Winery has been blessed with approximately thirty inches of the wet stuff. And with the season not quite over, we're looking forward to a few more inches before the …show more content…
Budbreak occurs when the new leaf shoots appear on the vine canes and traditionally signals the start of the grape growing season. It's occurring a few weeks earlier in the year than growers usually experience and most vineyard managers ascribe this early beginning to the unusually warm weather. Matt also shared that the vineyard crews are wrapping up pruning throughout the estate, with mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc vineyards left to finish.

In the winery in Napa Valley, cellar master Randy Kewell and the team are racking barrels of the 2013 and 2014 vintages, and reorganizing the cellar. Racking is the process winemakers use to remove spent lees from the bottom of barrels and is accomplished by moving the wine to an empty, clean barrel. The process is repeated a few times during the barrel aging phase of winemaking and helps to clarify the