A Pressing Day

Earlier this month, we harvested and crushed Zinfandel from Santa Clara Valley and Pinot Noir from the Santa Cruz Mountains.  Since then, the grapes have been going through primary fermentation in open top fermenters. We have been punching down the cap by hand three...

2016 Harvest Begins

The 2016 harvest has started!  Every year is different, with weather being a big determinant as to when harvest starts and which grapes ripen first.  The El Niño rains from earlier this year have resulted in higher yields than in 2015 (thank goodness!) and, so far,...

2016 Grapes are Looking Good!

It is an exciting time in the vineyard!  The grapes in the local vineyards are ripening quite nicely.  Last week, we put netting on the grapes in order to prevent damage by pesky birds and squirrels.  We anticipate that harvest will start next month.  ...

2016 Wine Grape Crop

Villa del Monte winemakers John and Neil say that the grapes are ripening quite nicely.  The grapes seem to like this year’s weather pattern of heavy El Niño storms followed by warm summer days with a bit of fog cover in the morning hours.  We’ll keep you...