Napa Vintners Growing Green
Only two years after its launch, Napa Green, the signature environmental program designed to enhance the Napa River watershed, has over 14,000 acres enrolled in the program, representing about 6,500 acres of vineyard in Napa County. This voluntary program is designed to protect Napa Valley, where 90% of the river’s watershed environment is privately owned. Certification is regulated by the Napa County Resource Conservation District in compliance with the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, Department of Fish and Game Code and Napa County Conservation Regulations.

The NVV coordinated the creation of this farm-planning program based on Laurel Marcus’ heralded “Fish Friendly Farming,” which takes into account all aspects of a farm’s impact on the land, including buildings, roads and non-farmed vegetation, as well as the farmed acreage.

This year, with the NVV leading the way, Napa Green takes the next step, going inside the winery to establish voluntary best practices for environmentally sound wine production. Included in the process will be topics from recycling and energy conservation to reusable water resources and more.

The goal for these best practices, both in the vineyard and in the winery, is to ensure future generations will be able to carry on Napa Valley’s rich heritage of growing grapes and making outstanding wine, and thereby maintaining the region’s industry standing as second to none in the world.

Notes from the Field
Napa ’s Soggy Start to Vintage 2006
Winter season 2006 will be remembered as the wet one. By mid-April, parts of Napa Valley had received over 60 inches of rain, nearly double the season-to-date average. Storms pummeled the valley over the New Year holiday causing flooding in the town of Napa, but vineyards were mainly spared due to state-of-the-art, sustainable agricultural practices employed by most vineyard owners. Cover crops, such as fescues and rye, are planted between the vine rows to keep top soils from washing away. As spring comes, these cover crops wick moisture out of the soil as the grasses grow. Vineyards may appear shaggy with grasses growing between the vines this year, but it is largely due to growers allowing the cover crop to pull moisture out of the soil for as long as possible.

As the weather heats up, the cover crop is mowed to allow moisture in the soil to supply only the vines without competition from the grasses. This “green” farm strategy helps prevent erosion, regulates soil moisture and reduces irrigation needs.

As for the vines themselves, during most of this heavy rain season, they were dormant and experienced little or no damage. The threat of rot only comes after the vines begin to wake up as days get longer and temperatures get warmer. Late in April, with bud break a few weeks behind normal, drier weather patterns moved in to the region bringing sunshine. It appears vine rot has been avoided.

According to Jim Frisinger, VP of North Coast Vineyards for Beringer Vineyards, “We’ve had above-average rainfall which, in combination with cool temperatures, has slowed development. We did experience some early budbreak in the southern part of the Napa Valley in February when we had a warm spell, but the cool, wet weather pattern since then has changed things around and we’re currently on a later-than-normal track. Everything looks fine and the vines appear to be in good shape.” One positive side effect of the cloud cover and precipitation late into the season is that there has been less concern about frost damaging the vines.

Premiere Napa Valley : Rare Wines, Priceless Relationships
There are numerous tastings and events hosted for the wine trade. Few, though, bring together the movers and shakers in the wine industry the way Premiere Napa Valley (PNV), the Napa Valley Vintners’ trade-only barrel auction, does. PNV, an invitation-only barrel tasting and auction, offers not only wines that are literally one-of-a-kind, but provides the opportunity for the trade to meet one-on-one with the owners and winemakers behind those wines.

To PNV longtime attendee and successful bidder Marcus Graziano, owner of Capitol Cellars in Roseville, CA, attending and purchasing at PNV is a dual-purpose sales and marketing tool for his wine shop.

“Obviously, one benefit of Premiere is the opportunity to purchase unique, top-of-the-line wines. It’s easy to talk to customers about having a supply of some highly allocated wine at $600 per bottle,” says Marcus. “But with a Premiere wine, I can say, ‘There were only 60 bottles of this wine produced, and I have them all. No one else in the world does.’ How often can you say that to a customer?

“The second value to me is the relationship I develop with the wineries whose lots I purchase,” Marcus explains. “That part is priceless. The setup of the event, with its mix of attendees and its limited size, affords a perfect venue for developing and furthering relationships with wineries, which can translate into higher allocations of their other wines. So I benefit from buying these one-of-a-kind wines, but also from the relationships that develop out of Premiere—even if I were to only break even on the wines purchased at Premiere, I’d still be ahead on the deal!”

For more information on PNV or to sign up for an invitation to next year’s event, go to napavintners.com and click on “Trade.”

Vintners Hit D.C.
In March, nearly sixty winery owners and principals traveled to the nation’s capital for a week-long mission to protect the Napa Valley Appellation.

The vintners met with nearly twenty-five members of congress including the California delegation, the Ways and Means Committee and the Congressional Wine Caucus, in addition to the US Trade Representative (USTR), the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and the European Union Mission. The focus was on educating leaders on the NVV’s recent U.S. Supreme Court victory on name protection, the Declaration of Place is Important to Wine, the status of the Napa Valley Geographic Indication (GI) and the just-signed Wine Accords. The meetings set the stage for continuing Napa name protection in the U.S. and abroad. A reception sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) was held on Capitol Hill to further showcase Napa’s wine, and Napa’s contribution of more than $9.5 billion annually to California’s economy.

The DC visit came on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear an appeal of the California Supreme Court’s ruling against the Ceres-based Bronco Wine Company. The appeal sought to overturn the state’s truth-in-wine-labeling law that prohibits brands that deceive the consumer by leading them to believe a wine is from Napa when it truly is not. While a victory, the court’s decision and the law that stands only affects California’s consumers.

On April 26, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) announced that it had reached a settlement agreement with wine giant, Bronco Wine Co., and that Bronco would bring all of its brands into compliance with California state law. In a separate agreement with the NVV, Bronco agreed to be in compliance with their brands not only in California, but across the U.S. and around the world as well.

Linda Reiff, NVV’s executive director said, “We applaud Bronco for its commitment to come into compliance with the law, and for self-regulating itself in the domestic and international markets. The Bronco case is just one example and we will remain vigilant to protect against future abuses in the other 49 states and abroad.”

Your Tool Box
Resources to Learn About Napa Valley
The NVV offers a wealth of materials to help you educate your team and your customers about what makes Napa Valley a winegrowing region second to none. Just visit www.napavintners.com and click “Trade,” to download educational materials, learn about upcoming trade events and how to partner with the NVV in your market, order supplies and more:

“The Science Behind the Napa Valley” Napa Valley is second to none in growing the world’s finest wine grapes, and we’ve got the facts to prove it. It’s all in an easy-to-use PowerPoint presentation that explains Napa’s unique geologic history, diverse soils, microclimates and appellations, bringing home the importance of place to wine.

“The Napa Valley’s Dirty Little Secrets” We’ve taken this same information and created a consumer-oriented version of the seminar on Napa Valley’s physical diversity: geologic history, soils, climates and appellations, available in pdf format.

Appellation Maps and Posters and Winery Maps
Handsome, full-color maps and posters available for purchase.

on press – trade edition
View, print or e-mail previous issues of this publication, your guide to our wines, our vintners and our community.

NVV Schedule of Events
Find out when and where our vintners will be in your area, and ways you can partner with the NVV.

Spring Has (Finally) Sprung in Napa Valley
Late into April, Napa Valley was woefully long on gray days, but the promise of sunshine and spring at last has brightened vintners’ spirits.

Rain was not on anyone’s mind on February 26 at Premiere Napa Valley, our annual trade-only barrel tasting and auction, the weather was positively sunny, and fitting of the high spirits and bids placed that day: a record-setting $1.9 million was raised from 181 auction lots. See our interview with retailer Marcus Graziano for some insight into what makes Premiere such a hot ticket.

Soon after, the rain continued, setting new records. See the insider’s report in “Notes from the Field” All that rain means green on the hillsides and on the vines throughout Napa Valley, but learn more about a different kind of Napa Green in this issue.

Then check out our calendar of events—we may be headed your way!

And the Winner Is...
Congratulations to Linda Pettine from Johnson & Wales University in Providence , RI , who signed up via our website to receive the digital version of on press – trade edition. We’ll be sending Linda a beautiful framed Napa Valley appellation map. Thank you to all who signed up!

2006 NVV Calendar
Join us as we promote and protect the Napa Valley Appellation around the world and in our own backyard.

International Wine & Spirit Trade Fair
London : May 15-18
Vintners will be pouring in the Napa Valley Appellation booth.

Auction Napa Valley
Napa Valley: June 1-4
The granddaddy of America’s charity wine auctions, now in its 26th year, features a weekend of private events and a rousing auction with incredible live, barrel and e-lots.

ANV has raised over $60 million dollars to date for health care, affordable housing and youth services.

Institute of Masters of Wine Symposium
Napa Valley : June 29-July 2
Working with the Institute of the Masters of Wine’s symposium, vintners will host a wine dinner and an educational seminar for members of the trade and media. For information, log on to www.masters-of-wine.org

Society of Wine Educators Annual Conference
Eugene , Oregon : July 9-16
Members of the NVV offer enlightening, entertaining and educational seminars for members of SWE as part of their annual conference.

Taste Napa Valley: UK
Dublin and London: September 6-12
Vintners head to Dublin and London for a series of trade and consumer tastings including Nightlife Napa Valley. To register, visit www.napavintners.com and click on “Trade.”

Taste Napa Valley: New York
New York : January 2007
Join Napa Valley Vintners for a week-long blitz of New York City and the surrounding areas with trade and consumer events, including Nightlife Napa Valley, our signature event for younger wine drinkers. More details to follow.

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