New Releases from Napa Valley

By Antonio Galloni

 Vintage 2011 Recap

I spent nearly three and half weeks in Napa Valley this year. Temperatures were already un-seasonally cool in April, which delayed bud break at a number of properties I visited. A few weeks later, in mid-May, it was even more unseasonably cool. Maturation continued at a snail’s pace throughout the cold summer. A rainstorm on October 10 caused quite a bit of worry, as sugars dropped. I arrived on the 12th to find winemakers and oenologists very nervous. All but the Bordeaux-trained winemakers, that is. The Bordelais seemed totally nonplussed by weather conditions that changed every few hours. The rest of my 12-day trip saw huge diurnal shifts, cold, foggy early mornings on the valley floor that resembled scenes from Piedmont rather than Napa Valley, very hot afternoons, rain, cold nights, and pretty much everything in between. The weather finally turned for the better towards the end of the month, but not before yields had been lowered dramatically in an attempt to achieve ripeness. The first thing that can be said with certainty about 2011 is that production levels will be down, in some cases quite sharply. I only tasted a few wines in tank, but they were beautiful, and there is every reason to think conscientious, patient winemakers will have made good wines. Readers who want to see the 2011 harvest in action may want to take a look at the videos I filmed at Sloan, Blankiet and Kapcsándy.

Vintage 2010