On 10 June, the skies above Napa and Sonoma crackled and boomed with the rare sounds of a spring thunderstorm (image by ~Prescott). Within 24 hours, the more than 200 lightning strikes in Northern California had ignited dozens of small wildfires.
Luckily the fires were quickly contained and threatened no vineyards or homes, but the surreal evening was yet one more event in what has been an unusual beginning to the 2013 vintage in California.
'That was a very weird event', says winemaker Aaron Pott. 'It reminded me of Bordeaux.' Pott, who makes wines for many labels in Napa...