Top 10 Words of the 2011 Napa Harvest

Posted by Tom Wark on Sep 12, 2011

The Top Ten Words of the 2011 Napa Harvest

In my super -un-scientific, un-official, survey of growers, winemakers, owners and finance types in Napa Valley, here are the Top Ten words I hear associated with the 2011 Napa Valley Harvest (in no particular order).

1. Sauvignon Blanc

2. Cold

3. Shatter

4. Short

5. November

6. Picking-Crews

7. 20.1 Brix

8. Labor

9. Delicious

10. Late

The average highs and lows for Saint Helena in the middle of Napa Valley in September are 86 and 52. For the coming October, those averages drop to 78 and 47, respectively. We need to do a little better than average. The threat, when the growing season is 2.5 to 3 weeks behind schedule, as many say we are now, is rain. Cabernet Sauvignon is a late ripener. Napa's cash crop is Cabernet Sauvinon. Come on, Mr. Sun!