Mixed results are being reported by color spotter Walt Gabler of Mendocino County who found bare vineyards on most vineyards, though occasional blocks at peak.
The above photograph is of the entrance to the Parducci family’s McNab Ridge winery in Hopland where chartreuse sycamore line a boulevard.
Ask a vintner to describe the color of a young white wine and you’ll hear, “pale straw with green reflections.” But, ask the same vintner what color Pinot Noir leaves are in autumn and you’ll get a blank stare.
As Risa Wyatt shows above, they are yellow.
Risa went looking for answers to questions about Sonoma County’s 2022 harvest, which just finished last week, and returns with this report.
A golden finale was seen at Lynmar on the Vineyard Hillside. This year’s vintage brought challenges to growers, including spring frost, an early September heat spike, and hard frosts in early November. So, while the grape quality is high, the quantity is low.
“The size of the berries was small this year, but they have excellent concentration and depth of flavor,” says Pete Soergel, winemaker at Lynmar Estate in the Russian River Valley whose Quail Hill Vineyard is planted with 14 Pinot Noir and two Chardonnay clones.
Vineyards at Lynmar Estate sweep down to the Laguna de Santa Rosa, the largest freshwater wetlands on the northern California coast. The creeks, marshes, riparian forests, and grasslands provide a home for hundreds of species of birds and mammals such as mink, badger, bobcat, and river otter.
In addition, the Laguna enhances wine-grape quality. “Cool air drains down our vineyard slopes and helps keep acid level high in the grapes,” says Pete Soergel, winemaker at Lynmar Estate. With proximity to the Laguna, Lynmar practices regenerative agriculture and utilizes solar power.
Vines are carrying orange to yellow leaves.
Home to 60,000 acres of vineyards and more than 425 wineries, Sonoma County has 19 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs, or appellations). In the Russian River Valley, cooling fogs from the Pacific Ocean and rivers create moderate temperatures that are ideal for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
In 2022, springtime budbreak and autumn harvest both came early to this region, and the golden vines are starting to drop their leaves. But fall color continues in other parts of the county, varying according to climate, elevation, and grape variety.
For more than a century, five generations of the Kunde Family have farmed a dramatic 1,850-acre estate in Kenwood, the heart of Sonoma Valley. The property sweeps 1,700 feet from the valley floor up to the Mayacamas Mountains. In autumn, vineyard blocks planted with different varieties drape patchworks of color over the foothills.
Note how each block has a different color: yellow, red, orange, lime. That’s indicative of how varied species peak on their own schedule and in different tones.
Travels has Michelle and Ron Pontoni missing most of California’s autumn, but returned to Sunny Brae, their neighborhood in Arcata along the North Coast just before it moved to Past Peak.
Heavy rain had pelted Arcata and the neighborhood’s venerable trees were glistening in the late afternoon sun, creating glimpses of autumn’s creations.
When Yountville is at peak, trees lining Washington Street burn with vermillion intensity and vines cast a golden glow.
Lucas Yan found both to be vintage when he visited the Napa Valley this past Friday. He found saturated color in the publicly accessible vineyard across from “Ad Hoc” and Chinese pistache sizzling so hotly that they look like they’d sear your fingers if you touched them.
With three Michelin starred restaurants, Yountville is known as a destination for fine dining. Though, it also has less intimidating stores and eateries, is a base for hot air ballooning and, of course, wine tasting.
Still, it is the fall color that is now vintage.
“Excuse me while I kiss the sky,” Jimi Hendrix might have sung as he watched a fog bank drop a purple haze over Sea Ranch on the Sonoma Coast this past week.
With such a color, Hendrix would have continued, “things just don’t seem the same,” though they are, Parrish Todd reported.
In Todd’s Sea Ranch garden, purple/burgundy loropetalum, chartreuse golden breath of heaven and orangy oakleaf hydrangea lend their exotic fall colors to the scene.
Oh, what joy it is to get fall photos in winter.
Michelle Pontoni visited Eureka this week, to send back these snaps of a Gingko biloba still Near Peak at the Wharfinger Building, downtown.
Michelle reports that there’s still a lot of color hanging on downtown.
Surrounded by flame-red flowering pear trees, the statue of a volunteer fireman in Yountville’s Van de Leur Park appears to be running away from the fire, though he’s actually running toward it.
He’d better hurry, as the flame of fall color is about to die out in the Napa Valley. Vishal Mishra reports the vineyards and trees are nearing past peak.
When Neil Diamond first sang Red Red Wine about a lover whose painful absence could only be forgotten by drinking wine, his soulful lyrics brimmed with emotion and loss. You could feel his “blue, blue heart” being torn apart by her absence as he sang.
In these last weeks of autumn, the same feeling arises as photographs record departing color. As David Sharp and Lucas Yan’s images taken in the Napa and Sonoma wine country were opened, Diamond’s melody, then his mournful lyrics, were recalled.
I'd have sworn, that with time
Thoughts of you would leave my head.
I was wrong, now I find
Just one thing makes me forget ...
Red red wine
Napa Valley (11/11/21) Gene Miller
It’s time to go wine tasting, as if you needed encouragement.
Napa Valley (11/11/21) Gene Miller
Napa Valley (11/11/21) Gene Miller
Gene Miller reports that Wine Country is back with Near Peak to Peak color being seen along SR29 and The Silverado Trail in the Napa Valley.
He notes, “In addition to the colors, the smells of the various vintages and cuisine that wafted over the Valley were incredible.”
Boeschen Vineyards, Napa Valley (11/11/21) Gene Miller
Boeschen Vineyards, Napa Valley (11/11/21) Gene Miller
Tubbs Lane, CA-29, Napa Valley (11/5/21) David Sharp
Hardly anyone agrees on Napa Valley wines, other than they are good. The same can be said for its fall color. David Sharp submitted these images, then remarked that the Napa Valley is a mixed bag of some great fall color, but also some things just developing.
Sounds like just the kind of remark made between friends the last time I was in a tasting room, there … “some great, some just developing.”
Beaulieu Vineyards, Rutherford (11/4/21) David Sharp
Chinese pistache and vines, Frogs Leap Winery, Rutherford (11/4/21) David Sharp
Napa Valley Wine Library Association, St. Helena (11/5/21) David Sharp
Petrified Forest Rd., Calistoga (11/5/21) David Sharp
Hwy 29, Napa Valley (11/5/21) David Sharp
To our taste, however, the Napa Valley is vintage and now’s the time to head there. Not only has the crush of traffic lightened, following harvest and crush, but the autumn color is vibrant.
Napa Valley Wine Library, St. Helena (11/5/21) David Sharp
