...you cannot have an abundant crop without cultivation. Plato.Harvest may be over, but the work of farming the vineyards of the Napa Valley is never at an end. Valleywide, growers and vineyard managers are performing many necessary vineyard operations; sowing cover crops, spreading composted waste solids between the vines, making soil amendments (such as additions of K2SO4), and in some cases ripping out old, tired vines that are no longer viable.
This vineyard on the Oakville Crossroad was bulldozed about a week ago. I'm fairly positive it belongs to Franciscan Winery (but it could be Flora Springs Winery). Yes, it is sad to see the dead vines neatly piled high with the last of their summer foliage turning brown, but in their place new, vigorous vines will be cultivated. Nothing lives forever, but the 2010 wine that was made from these vines, before they were pulled from the earth, will be around for decades to come.
