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Napa California smoke taint yeast Napa diary

Diary of a Napa harvest intern – part 2

Samantha Cole-Johnson 2022
Samantha Cole-Johnson

We left Samantha Cole-Johnson seriously worried about wildfires and smoke taint in part 1. Here she picks up the story, in which bees, if not birds, play an important part. See also Alder's report on this year's Harvest of fear.

Monday, 7 September 2020
F..ing yellow bins in Napa Valley with 2020 Pinot Noir grapes

Thus far, my harvest looks like an electrocardiogram: the massive spike that was Chardonnay week, a day off, a small bump for rosé, and another small bump for a two-and-a-half-ton lot of Pinot Noir that was brought in for a private label. Now we’re waiting for the estate reds to roll in (‘waiting’ = running around doing other...