Pre-Harvest Preparation

Some of the Lees after a Cabernet racking/cleaning at Palladian Winery in St. Helena.

Pumping the wine out of the barrels for cleaning.

Clearing a fallen oak tree in the Heron Lake vineyard.

Taking an afternoon ride through the Napa hills from Heron Lake Winery, where the Olivia Brion Pinot and Chardonnay is grown, back down to Napa town.

Collecting samples of the 2009 Olivia Brion Pinot Noir for testing.

Fixing and reassembling the crusher/de-stemmer in preparation for harvest.

Sanitizing the keg with ozonated water for cleaning the oak barrels.

Cleaning the cabernet barrels at Palladian after a racking, and adding humidity to this beautiful natural cave.

Week Two

The "wine thief" tool being used to fill glasses

David hosts a tasting of our '09 Chardonnay

The "Wine Vault", a cool cave where barrels of our '09 vintage are aging

Long Lake is placid after an early-morning canoe ride

Stephen in the trusty ancient flatbed, on the way to deliver some bird netting to the vines

Mounting a roll of bird netting, with a "sea" of morning fog in Wild Horse Valley below

Our new Italian tractor– red, of course

Laying a row of bird netting– again, the morning fog in the valley at upper left

A man walks on each side of the row to put the netting in place over the vines

Morning sun

The tractor is rigged with a 12-foot axle, allowing netting rolls to be lifted and unspooled

Crushing a sample of Pinot Noir grapes

The first glimpse of the 2010 Olivia Brion Pinot Noir

The 2010 vintage Chardonnay, which tested at 16.0 Brix, meaning harvest is still 5 weeks away