It's never too early.

A mere five days later, and just look at that colour.  My Pinot grigio grapettes are rushing with reckless abandon through veraison.  Within the next week or so, I'm thinking, the bird netting will have to be installed. As of now, it seems that the harvest of these grapes will be earlier than last year.  Not as early as harvest at Mumm Napa Valley though, where harvest began yesterday.  Yikes!
It seems that some 12 tons of Pinot noir grapes decided that they were done with idly hanging around in the vineyard and decided it was harvest time: the earliest harvest ever, by one day, for Mumm (but not a valley record, apparently).  Like I always say, we are all on Mother Nature's schedule.

Meanwhile, whilst I was away...

...In the Cabernet sauvignon vines veraison is progressing.  I may have been absent from the vineyard for a while, but Mother Nature has been busy in my stead.  Veraison is always a little random in the Cabernet block and this year is no exception, the warmer and protected areas are a little more advanced than others, and I'd estimate that veraison is only about 20% complete.
Elsewhere in the valley harvest has already begun.  Mumm Napa brought in their first Pinot noir grapes on Wednesday 30th July - that's about a week earlier than last year apparently.  More bubbly, earlier...what's not to love about that?  Go little grapies!

A double Cabernet bottling.

Had a quick bottling event in Vinoland today.  A friend's Cabernet Franc and Vinoland's own Cabernet Sauvignon are now slumbering peacefully inside antique green Bordeaux bottles.  Vinoland's Syrah is still waiting to be bottled, but thoughts are now moving on to all things harvest.  Mumm Napa started their harvest yesterday by bringing in their first Pinot noir for sparkling wine production, so other wineries will not be too far behind bringing in their white wine grapes.  I love this time of year.