Napa's Ag Preserve Celebrates 45th Anniversary and Eyes the Future: Farmland Preservation Conference This Friday

This Friday the Napa Valley Ag Preserve celebrates its 45th birthday with both a party (Sat., sold out) and a day long conference taking place Friday.

The first Ag Preserve in the country, Napa's foresighted land use planning preserved its land for agriculture and protected it from urban development despite being near major urban settlements.

The occasion also marks the 100th anniversary of the Napa County Farm Bureau.

See the full conference agenda for a look at what's planned for the Aug. 2 conference and enjoy the video below:

In Photos: Napa's Dutch Henry Winery - A Hideaway

I visited Dutch Henry Winery yesterday. I've driven past it how many times so I was glad to poke my head in quickly and get the nickel tour.

With the hot weather yesterday, one could find cool within the tasting room - and in the 4,500 sq. ft. wine caves, entered through a Hobbit-like set of doors set under the hill above.

While the winery makes 4,000 cases a year (and buys a lot of grapes from other growers), 40% of the grapes come from the winery's own estate vineyards which include the onsite Syrah vineyard and an estate Cab vineyard in St. Helena.

Founded by the Chafen Family in 1992, Dutch Henry's organically grown options include its Estate Cab (available) and its Syrah (sold out).

The vineyard management is done by Jack Neal & Sons, which takes care of many organic vineyards in Napa.

Dutch Henry also offers shaded picnicking at tables under the trees and a bocce court and additional picnicking (in the sun).

A dog-friendly winery, Dutch Henry's two lovely winery dogs will greet you in the parking lot upon arrival. The dogs are featured - of course - in the Winery Dogs book.

DUTCH HENRY IN PHOTOS

The greeting committee

Assistant Winemaker Will Mendoza with the estate Cab 

Plenty of room for a picnic in the shade

The tasting room

Entrance to the wine caves

The tasting room and fermentation facility

Come for the wine, stay for the bocce ball and picnic area

The airstream is here for its good looks

In Photos: A Trip to Inglenook

Summer is nearly upon us and if you're anything like me, visitors have been starting to arrive. Too often their visits, accompanied by a hurried day to fit in a brief trip to Napa, lack planning. But I would like to suggest...planning.

If you have but one day to show them Napa, Inglenook is an absolute must. Try to make your time there unhurried. Best of all, book ahead for a tour which is the best way to see this historic site.

Failing that, you can drop in at the Bistro for tastes and wine by the glass. You can also wander through the museum of Inglenook's past on the first floor which is an absorbing and wonderful display of artefacts, ranging from how Niebaum, the original founder, made his fortune (in the Alaska fur trade business) and what his hopes and dreams were for creating a great winery.

He had originally intended to create a winery in France, but his wife preferred Napa. He was the first Napa vintner to commit to the highest levels of quality, imported European vines, and achieved an international reputation.

Upstairs are several collections of Coppola's including early movie memorabilia and period costumes from the Niebaum era.

You can sift through what's Coppola and what's Niebaum and enjoy what you will.

But make no mistake - this is one of our country's greatest wineries. Its heritage is incomparable. Inglenook's commitment to organic viticulture is the icing on the cake.

So be sure to get there. Is it the wine geek's equivalent of Monticello? Visit and then you can tell me what you think.

The exterior - I wonder if it was originally painted yellow...
I managed to keep the very Italian fountain (added - not original) out of the photo

Enter here

While Coppola restored many wonderful aspects of this property,
this grand staircase is not one of them. This was a plain stone working
winery. The baronial stairway is a complete fabrication,
based on Coppola's aesthetic of theatricality.

There is a very fine collection in display of the winery'
past. This is just one of the many.

The historical gem at Inglenook
Niebaum's original tasting room,
which was never destroyed or messed
with by ensuing owners (who famously did
ruin many things on the  property)

Original tasting room

This section shows Niebaum's Alaska travels - where he made his
fortune in fur trading 

Chandeliers were installed in the barrel room to make a private space
for wedddings and other grand parties.

An original

A private tasting (for me!)

What you get when you buy this estate - lots of old bottles.

I hope the dust is original and not "movie dust"

Tasting our way through the Cabernets

2012 Crop Reports Say Organic Vineyards Up in Napa, Sonoma

Regions with the highest reputation for wine are increasingly becoming organic, according to crop reports from the Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

In Napa acreage for organic vineyards was up 500 acres, or 17%, putting total certified organic acreage at 9% of all county vineyards. The 2011 organic acreage was 3,536; that's now up to 4,032 in 2012.

In Sonoma acreage for organic vineyards increased from 678 acres in 2011 to 1,163 acres in 2012 - an increase of 58%. Sonoma's recent increase put it at about 2%, just under the statewide average (2.7%), with its 58,300 acres of vineyards.

In Mendocino, the Ag Commissioner's office reports 3,735 acres now, down from 2011's 3,994 acres. In 2011, 28% of vineyards were certified organic or biodynamic.

Preliminary figures from the state show that statewide organic vineyards were about 12,700 acres, give or take (I'm waiting for clarification on some numbers that seemed inconsistent to me), or about 2.7% of the state's 462,023 acres of wine grape vineyards.

Overall, Napa supplies 32% of the state's organic wine grapes, Mendocino 31% and Sonoma 9%. The three counties combined account for 72% of organic vineyards in California.

Lake County had more than 500 acres of organic wine grapes in 2012, according to the California Dept. of Agriculture.

Using the state's data, organic wine grapes accounted for $72 million of wine grape sales in 2012.

Where the Bees' Toxic Soup Is: California's Wine Growing Regions

Pesticide Research Institute, a Berkeley company founded by PANNA database creator and pesticide expert Dr. Susan Kegley, has launched a detailed map showing the townships where neonicotinoids, the pesticides linked to bee colony collapse, are located.

The map was developed for beekeepers and is part of the company's Bee Resource Center.

Red areas are for the 95th percentile; orange for 75-95% percentile

The map is similar to the State Dept. of Public Health's Agricultural Pesticide Mapping Tool (from the Environmental Health Investigations Branch) but the Pesticide Research map is visually clearer and goes to the level of the neonicotinoids (which are not presented on the state tool as a default). Both tools have 2010 data (since the state department of pesticides is changing to a new computer system and has not released stats for 2011-12 - they should be available in June).

While the worst concentrations of neonicotinoids are found in the Central (San Joaquin) Valley and Salinas Valley (see the top 5% of usage in red squares on this map), our North Bay wine country is still alarmingly high.

The orange areas above show sites in the top quarter of the state from the 75th to 95th percentiles.

As you can see, a wide swath around Healdsburg and a township centered in Napa on the Rutherford-Oakville-Yountville AVAs are in this top 25% of users statewide.

In Sonoma, the state Dept. of Pesticide Research data for 2010 shows 2,362 pounds of imidacloprid (a neonicotinoid) spread at 424 sites over 8,166 acres.

In Napa, 796 pounds of imidacloprid were spread over 199 sites and 2,405 acres. From the map below, one can see that the area of highest concentration is over the AVAs of Rutherford, Oakville and Yountville.

Beekeepers and environmental groups recently sued the EPA over the use of other neonicotinoids linked to bee colony collapse. The EPA has said it will take 5 years to study the matter.

Neonicotinoids are used on more than wine grapes but wine grapes are among the top five crops in California where they are used.

FOr further reading, consult the Wines & Vines article, Wine Grape Pesticide Facing Greater Scrutiny

New Organic Wine Tours: Women Winemakers of Sonoma, Napa

I've just launched several new organic wine tours on Vayable.com including two that focus on women winemakers. 

• Women Winemakers of Sonoma 

This tour visits three wineries - two started by passionate winemakers and one started by a couple whose passion for farming has made their winery a showcase for healthy ecosystems and polyculture (the opposite of monoculture).

This is the perfect tour for a girls day out or as a special occasion for the bridesmaid. In fact, it works for pretty much any occasion!

Taste world-class wines and a variety of laidback Sonoma countryside. Get the details here.

It's all in the family...

Making great Syrah

At the winery that's also a farm

I am also offering a Women Winemakers of Napa tour as well. See here for details.

All the More Reason to Celebrate: Sparkling Wines Going Green

Terra Savia's Blanc de Blanc, $23

Tis the season to raise a glass of the bubbly, so I am rerunning this post (originally published in the spring of 2011).

Celebrating with a glass of "green champagne" is getting easier.

I counted up the number of producers offering organic bubbly this week and came up with 8 current vintages (with more on the way).

Mendocino, the greenest wine region, currently leads the pack with a total of six - count 'em - six CCOF certified "made with organic grapes" sparkling wines:

Sparkling Whites

1. 2006 Blanc de Blanc, Terra
Savia, organic, $23 (usually available at Whole Foods)
2. Brut, McFadden, $25

3. NV Brut, Paul Dolan, organic, $27.99
4. 2005 Brut, Jeriko Estate, organic, $38.95

Sparkling Rose's

5. 2005 Brut Rose, Jeriko Estate, organic, $48.95
6. 2006 Brut Rose, Handley Cellars, $40

Russian River and Napa

Other organic sparkling wines from California include:

1. Organic Brut, Korbel, organic,  $15 (Russian River)
2. 2007 Rose Cuvee de la Pompadour, Domaine Carneros, organic, $36 (Carneros)

Newer vintages from Domaine Carneros (starting with 2010) will be organic.

Attention-Getting Neal Sauvignon Blanc

Neal Family Vineyards is a quiet, tucked away, little-known, mountain winery above Napa Valley in Angwin - known among insiders for its Cabernet Sauvignon. 


But the winery is making a big play for its Sauvignon Blanc as well.

Steve Heimoff in Wine Enthusiast raves:

92 Points-Maybe it's the 100% certified organic grapes that make this wine so pure, or the fact that it never saw oak. Probably both. The fruit stands front and center with flavors of lemons, limes, Asian pears, lemongrass and gooseberries. A superior Sauvignon Blanc, at a great price, but production unfortunately was less than 1,000 cases.

The price: $18 a bottle. 

Learn more here (click) or sign up for emails on their site to be in the know going forward.

Listen to a radio show rave as well.

I am looking forward to visiting the winery up there sometime soon - it's always fun to explore new haunts away from the madding crowd and this is at the top of my to-visit list.

Napa Watersheds Conference: Thursday May 19 (Tomorrow)

Water conference? It might sound boring to the average wine aficionado but it's anything but. Water has everything to do with how well wine grapes are grown (either too much or too little) and the evidence suggests way too much is being used - more than what is needed both in the vineyard and in the cellar.

Thursday, Napa County, state and EPA officials, winemakers, and local people will gather to discuss the state of the art on water management in Napa County.

The conference takes place from 9 to 4 at the Yountville Community Center. Info at napawatersheds.org. Cost is $25 for the day and includes lunch.