Archive for the ‘Napa Oak Woodland Initiative’ Category
Getting to the heart of the matter isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do. We often talk around the central point or never quite put our finger on what the important question is. So, when you see the point—the real point—illustrated, it is instructive. Stu Smith, owner of Smith-Madrone Winery in Napa, recently got to the heart of the matter of the upcoming Oak Woodlands Agriculture Restriction Initiative that will be on the ballot in Napa County in…
The Napa Valley Vintners recently announced to their membership on Thursday that they will be opposing the upcoming Napa County Watershed and Oak Woodland Protection Initiative of 2018. This is very good news, very wise and a boost to the opposition to a seriously flawed, unnecessary and punitive undertaking. In addition to announcing to their membership that they will oppose the initiative, the Napa Vintners noted that they “prepared to put resources toward an opposition campaign and formed a task force that…
The year 2012 was fascinating. A number of issues came to the fore and had an important impact on the wine industry. Looking forward to 2018 I have a few hopes and wishes for developments in the Amerian wine industry. All of the following, if they came to fruition, would be very good for the wine industry, for wine drinkers and for me. What about you? 1 – More Cabernet Franc produced in the style of Washington’s Owen Roe 2…
Wine News in 2017 was big and varied. Lots of big changes and big events. Some of it was predictable. Other news, well not so predictable. Here are my Top 10 Wine News Stories of 2017. They are not presented in any order of importance and they tend to focus in part on California’s wine industry. WINE COUNTRY FIRES DEVASTATE The fires scarred everyone in Napa and Sonoma. The land will recover, but the personal, economic, and psychological toll will…
In an earlier post concerning an effort here in Napa Valley to prevent any more plantings of vineyards anywhere but on the Valley floor, I claimed that the proponents of the Oak Woodlands initiative had a hidden agenda they were not talking about. I was right. In a recent letter to the Napa Valley Register, the author of the Oak Woodland Initiative, Mike Hackett, noted that the Initiative “represents a step in the right direction.” Not the solution to a…
