The month of November is chugging right along and before you know it, Thanksgiving will be upon us.

In the meantime, there’s no shortage of events taking place in the valley this weekend. Here are a few worth checking out.

Saturday, November 7th

• From 11:30am – 3:30pm Hewitt Vineyard will host a barrel tasting event that will allow you to sample the 2008 vintage, enjoy a pre-release tasting of the winery’s 2007s and check out a couple library selections. For $50 per person (wine club members are free for two), you’ll also be treated to ‘hearty’ appetizers and live music. Call 707-968-3638 for more information

• From 10:30am – 11:30am Mumm Napa winery will host the first lecture in its “Changing Earth: Photographer’s Call to Action” series. See our previous coverage for full details

• Meat and wine lovers, don’t forget Primal Napa Valley is taking place from 3pm – 7pm in St. Helena

Saturday, November 7th and Sunday, November 8th

• This weekend is a ‘Silver Pass Weekend‘ on Silverado Trail, meaning pass holders will be able to enjoy current release tastings at each of the participating wineries along with barrel samples, food pairing, special discounts, library wines, and more. Times and specifics will vary from winery to winery, among those participating are Hagafen Cellars, Monticello Vineyards, Zahtila Vineyards and more. Passes cost $40 per person for one day in advance or $65 per person for the weekend in advance. A day pass purchased day-of goes for $45 per person and a weekend pass purchased day-of goes for $70 per person. Proceeds from pass sales will go to the Child Development Centers of the Napa County School District. Call 707-256-0122 for more information

• From 1pm – 7pm on Saturday the Calistoga Blues Festival will see live music fill the streets in downtown Calistoga. Attendees will be able to taste wine, there will be various merchants specials and select restaurants will host live music into the night. On Sunday from 12pm – 5pm, the Blues in the Vineyards event will continue the music and wine tasting at seven different Calistoga wineries, including Dutch Henry Winery, Madrigal Vineyards and more. Saturday-only tickets are $25 per person, a Sunday-only pass (for Blues in the Vineyards) is $35 per person and a weekend pass is $50 per person. Call 707-942-6333 for all the details

TechTags Plugin [ Napa | Napa Valley | wine | winery | Calistoga Blues Festival | Silver Pass Weekend Silverado Trail | Primal Napa Valley | Mumm Napa | Hewitt Vineyard ]

Those of you regular readers will know we’re big photography fans, which is one of the reasons we’re excited about an upcoming series of photo exhibits that will take place at Mumm Napa Winery in Rutherford.

Starting this Saturday, November 7th, from 10:30am – 11:30am, sparkling wine producer Mumm Napa will host a series of photo exhibits and lectures called, “Changing Earth: Photographer’s Call to Action” in conjunction with Ansel Adams and Blue Earth. The series will include photos from renowned photographers who document the reality of earth’s environmental decline through their photographs.

First up in the series is the documentary team Benjamin Drummond and Sara Joy Steele, who’s personal project, Facing Climate Change, documents communities around the world as they confront and adapt to the complex issues surrounding global warming.

The lectures are all free to the public, you’re just asked to RSVP in order to guarantee seating by calling 707 967-7740. Here’s the full series line-up (all lectures are from 10:30am – 11:30am):

• November 7, 2009: Benjamin Drummond/Sara Joy Steele, “Facing Climate Change”

• December 5, 2009: Camille Seaman, “Connection and Purpose”

• February 6, 2010: Stephen Harrison, “Visualizing Earth”

• March 6, 2010: John Trotter, “The Future of the Colorado River”

• March 13, 2010: Daniel Beltra, “Amazon: Forest at Risk” and Florian Schulz, “Freedom to Roam: Keeping the Wild Connected”

TechTags Plugin [ Napa | Napa Valley | wine | winery | Mumm Napa | photography | Mumm Napa photography series | Changing Earth ]

The final day of October is upon us, Happy Halloween all!

Halloween Napa Valley-style: A jack-o-lantern shines in Oakville

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The end of the week (and month) are nearly here. That can only mean one thing. Your weekly round-up of upcoming Napa Valley events, this one with a special Halloween focus, is here as well.

Saturday, October 31st

• At 10am the 18th Annual AIDS Walk Napa Valley will take place on he grounds of the California Veterans Home in Yountville (starting at the Lincoln Theater). The walk will have the theme “Costumes for a Cure!” and there will be “treats” throughout the walk for the kids and kids at heart. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Care Network at Queen of the Valley Medical Center. Call 707-257-3863 for all the details

• From 1pm – 3pm downtown Napa will play host to the Hometown Halloween Parade. There will be festivities for both children and adults and pets as well, including a pet costume contest at 1:30pm, followed by the parade at 2pm. There will also be plenty of scary backdrops for picture taking and there is no charge for the event. Call 707-257-0322 for more information

• Between 1:30pm – 4:30pm Clos Pegase in Calistoga will host its first-ever Harvest Halloween Party in the winery caves. For $25 per person ($15 per wine club member), the event will include a costume contest, games, trick or treating and of course, wine tasting. Call 707-942-4981 for more information

• On Halloween evening from 7pm – 11pm there will be a live Halloween Band concert at Rutherford Grange in Rutherford (if you’re headed North on Highway 29, it’s on your right before you hit Rutherford Grill). For $10 per person, you’ll be able to enjoy a costume party, live music and food from La Luna Market. Tickets can be purchased at the door and you can cal 707-363-8839 for all the details

• From 9pm – 2am the annual ‘Boogie Frights’ Halloween costume party will take place at Silverado Brewing Company in St. Helena. For $15 per person at the door you’ll be able to enjoy music from various DJ’s, a huge dance floor and three separate bars. Call 707-967-9876 for more information

TechTags Plugin [ Napa | Napa Valley | wine | winery | napa halloween | Rutherford Grange | St. Helena | La Luna Market | Silverado Brewing Company ]

Our mid-week harvest update is here.

Things have calmed down dramatically in most of the vineyards, with the majority of fruit already picked (or being picked as we write) and in the winery.

Here’s the latest (and likely the last) formal update of the season from Smith-Madrone, Piña Napa Valley and Swanson Vineyards…

Smith-Madrone
Managing partner Stuart Smith provided a quick update from Spring Mountain, where activity is slowly winding down…

Most of the wineries are taking advantage of the beautiful warm fall weather to finish harvesting this week, leaving only a very few wineries with grapes hanging as we go into November. Those grapes being harvested are clean and flavorful, with only one report of a tiny amount of mold being detected.

Piña Napa Valley
Meanwhile, winemaker Anna Monticelli shared details on how the weather impacted the harvest and noted the winery’s final grapes should be coming in today…

The weather has been very temperate and mild in the past week and the humidity also went down. There was a storm coming from Hawaii that was supposed to hit the Napa Valley bringing more significant rainfall starting on Thursday. It looks like the storm is going to bypass us leaving us with beautiful temperate weather. Unfortunately due to the effects of the previous rainfall and high humidity following the big storm 2 weeks ago, we will be unable to keep the fruit on the vine any longer without risk of the grapes getting moldy or falling off the stem.

Our last grapes to be harvested are on Howell Mountain, the coolest of our AVAs. We brought in four of the Howell Mountain Buckeye Vineyard blocks today. The rest of the vineyard will be harvested on Wednesday and then we will put our crushing equipment away. The quality of the 2009 wines looks very promising. The wines have beautiful aromatics and they taste very balanced. It is still early but we think it will be a great vintage. It’s a wrap!

Swanson Vineyards
Finally, winemaker Chris Phelps reflected on the 2009 growing season and provided some early thoughts on the vintage…

The weather is shifting in Napa, as the mercury drops, the North wind blows, and the grapes still hanging out are not going to improve.

We wrapped up harvest at Swanson a week ago, so we now have a solid picture of what our Merlot and Cabernet harvests are translating into, in terms of wine quality. We guessed that the lower-than-average yields and cool growing season would mean great color and easily extractable, ripe tannins, and we have not been disappointed. We have been so impressed by the balance, and especially, the texture of our reds, that we ordered an additional load of new barrels – a first for my 6-year tenure at Swanson. Achieving full physiological ripeness means that reds develop delectable, velvety tannins. Look to many 2009 Napa Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines for these characteristics. Visit your favorite producers in April, taste the 2009 reds in barrel, if you can, and tell me you don’t agree.

For full coverage, hit up the Harvest 2009 category.

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The first full weekend in November will see the Napa Valley return to its primal roots.

On November 7th an event called Primal Napa Valley, which will celebrate “Fire Cooking, Meat & the Art of Butchering”, is slated to take place at Hayne Vineyard (2252 Sulphur Springs) in St. Helena from 3pm – 7pm.

Organized by the fine folks at Taste Network, the same group that brought us the phenomenal Heirloom BLT and wine party back in August, Primal will feature meats and heirloom vegetables from Napa Valley’s Hudson Ranch and a multi-animal (pig, cow, goat, lamb) breakdown demonstration by local butchers.

For $65 per person, attendees will be able to view demonstrations and taste chef creations from the likes of Chris Cosentino (Incanto and Boccalone), Staffan Terje (Perbacco), Taylor Boetticher (Fatted Calf), Scott Boggs (Hudson Ranch), Ryan Farr (4505 Meats), Jeremy Fox (Ubuntu) and others.

There will, of course, be a wide range of wines available as well, including Chase Cellars, Terra Valentine, Hill Family Estate, Hirsch Vineyards, Frias Vineyards, Gamble Family Vineyards, Miner Wines, Erna Schein-Behrens Family Winery, Pey-Marin Vineyards, Steltzner Vineyards, Macauley Vineyard, Larkin Wines, Murphy Goode Winery and Zacherle Wines.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the City of Napa Fire Explorers program. We’ll be there, hope to see many of you as well!

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While most in these parts are focused on finishing up harvest, two local dining establishments made announcements today.

Trick or Treat: Pumpkin Cupcakes from Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery in Yountville

David Frakes named Executive Chef at St. Helena’s a|k|a a Bistro
The man who spent the past 13 years as executive chef at Beringer Vineyards has been named to the same post at St. Helena’s a|k|a a Bistro. David Frakes steps into the kitchen, where he’ll keep a couple of the restauant’s signature dishes, with plans to revamp the menu in his own style. Diners will note a new appetizer on the menu, a golden and red beet terrine with a Pt. Reyes blue cheese center, served with mache and frisee, as well as an ‘herbed beggar’s purse’, which is a a crepe filled with goat cheese, confit of olive and roasted pepper with saffron-grain mustard vinaigrette.

Frakes is also spearheading a new project in conjunction with the neighboring Cameo Cinema, which will be screening Where The Wild Things Are (10/30 – 11/5). a|k|a will offer a ‘Wild Things’ menu, which will include freshly pulled made to order warm mozzarella with pickled wild mushrooms, roasted pearl onions, smoked paprika vinaigrette; a second course of penne with wild boar ragout and warm wild huckleberry clafoutis with lemon verbena sorbet in a wild rice tuile for dessert ($35). The menu will continue every Tuesday until the end of 2009.

New seasonal menu items added at Yountville’s Bouchon Bakery
In Yountville, Thomas Keller’s ever-popular Bouchon Bakery has just added several new menu items to celebrate Fall and the Halloween season. In no particular order, here are the additions:

• Caramel Apple: Fresh, crisp apple smothered in house made caramel ($5.75 each)

• Spider Cookies: Homemade shortbread cookies festively decorated with fondant ($3.50 each)

• Bat TKO’s: Crisp, bat-shaped chocolate cookies filled with sweet white chocolate ganache ($3 each)

• Pumpkin Cupcake: Devils food cupcakes shaped as a pumpkin, complete with a rich, cream cheese center and finished with fondant ($9 each)

• Pumpkin Brittle: Classic brittle fused with pumpkin seeds ($5 per bag)

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Wow how time flies. Believe it or not, we’re rapidly nearing the end of October.

If you happen to find yourself in the Napa Valley area this weekend, here are a couple events that should be worth your time.

Saturday, October 24th

• Between 11am – 1pm none other than Gary Vaynerchuck, he of WineLibrary and the new book Crush It!, will be making an appearance at V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena (1111 White Lane). Gary will be promoting the book at this free event, where he will talk about the book, answer questions and sign copies. Of course, the book will be available for purchase for $19.99. Call 707-963-7774 for more information

• From 5pm – 8pm Trefethen Family Vineyards will get in the Halloween spirit by hosting a ‘Fright Night’ at the winery in Napa (1160 Oak Knoll Ave). For $55 per person ($45 per wine club member), you’ll be able to sample wines, enjoy hors d’oeuvres and partake in a costume contest. Call 800-556-4847 for reservations

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This week’s harvest update comes following several days of wet, rainy, windy weather here in the Napa Valley.

Read on to learn more about what has been taking place at Piña Napa Valley, Swanson Vineyards and Smith-Madrone.

Mid-October: A vineyard just off Yountville Cross Road in Yountville begins to show its post-harvest colors. More photos: www.krjphotography.uncork29.com

Piña Napa Valley
Winemaker Anna Monticelli detailed how the recent rain has impacted the fruit left on the vines…

Last Tuesday it rained 4 inches in the vineyard. This is a substantial amount and it slightly diluted the sugar levels in the berries. The weather remained slightly cooler during the week and warmed up into the eighties on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately it was humid last week which is a cause for concern. It is necessary to check the vineyards every couple of days to make sure there are no split berries and there is no mold growing. Thankfully we leafed the entire Buckeye Vineyard on Howell Mountain and we are also running the wind machine to help dry the grapes and prevent mold. Today it rained again, probably around 1/4-1/2 inch. The temperatures should be in the seventies for the rest of the week. Hopefully the air will be drier. I foresee picking the earliest blocks of the Buckeye Vineyard this Saturday and holding out on the last blocks unless we see some mold and are forced to pick.

Swanson Vineyards
Vineyard Manager Ross Hall noted things are pretty much complete, the fruit is in tanks and barrels…

It’s over. The 2009 grape harvest at Swanson Vineyards, that is. It was an exciting season from start to finish that kept us guessing, plotting and planning throughout the entire cycle. Cool weather, followed by warm weather. Then more cool weather, and lots of it, followed immediately by extended spells of hot weather.

What were the yields going to be? When will we start harvest? What sort of quality were we going to see? What’s the best canopy management strategy, crop management strategy, for this unpredictable weather? We were constantly trying to figure out the weather and its affect on our vines. The forecast of the last rains made us a little nervous, and caused concern, but when they arrived, they were too late to affect our harvest plans.

We must have gotten it right! Yields were as we forecast, and the weather cooperated and behaved as we had hoped. We’ve ended up with a good, solid yield of some of the best quality grapes we’ve seen in recent memory. We here at Swanson’s are all thrilled that we’ve been blessed with such an all around great year.

The grapes are in tank and barrel now, and everything we see as we ferment and process the juice has us excitedly anticipating a really great vintage. And that’s for both white and red wines. Not just ours, but the Valley’s 2009 wines will please the most discriminating tastes and thrill the casual connoisseur as well. We can’t wait for the 2009 vintage releases to begin!

Smith-Madrone
Managing Partner Stuart Smith also discussed the recent weather and noted some wineries expect to be harvesting into November…

The substantial rain of last week and the rain this Monday has stopped all harvesting. Most of the wineries have just a small amount of Cabernet or Cabernet franc left to harvest, which should come off later this week. A few wineries will be harvesting well past Halloween. There is unanimity that this years wine has good color, good flavors, soft tannins and good juice yields. The crop levels, however, are not uniform, ranging from “the worst Merlot crop ever” to 20% above average.

See Harvest 2009 for complete coverage of this year’s activity.

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Fresh on the heels of yesterday’s news that it had received yet another Michelin star, Yountville’s Bouchon has rolled out a new France tasting menu.

Starting today and running through October 25th, you’ll be able to enjoy a 3-course prix-fixe menu option ($60 per person) that is focused on the classic dishes of the Gascony region of France. In addition, a selection of complimentary mignardise (aka small, sweet offerings for after dinner) is being offered, as well as special wine selections to go with the menu (wine pairings are an additional $35 per person).

The Gascony region is located in Southwestern France and generally includes fare based around rich meats paired with hearty vegetables and flavorful sauces, enhanced through techniques such as braising or confit to maximize each element’s flavors.

Here are a few examples of classic dishes from the region that will be offered:

• Foie Gras et Rillettes de Canard: Seared foie gras and duck confit rillettes with caramelized pears, Swiss chard and chestnut puree

• Jambe de Porc Braisee: Braised pork shank with red wine braised cabbage, pruneaux d’Agen, watercress leaves and young turnips with Armagnac-pork jus

• Gascon Croustade: Roasted apples with crispy phyllo and whipped crème fraiche

Bouchon is located at 6534 Washington Street in Yountville.

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