NEWS AND VIEWS

Auction Napa Valley—10.35 million reasons to celebrate!

Despite a challenging economic climate, Auction Napa Valley, the NVV's community fundraiser held June 5-8, raised $10.35 million.  This community fundraiser has given nearly $78 million to local healthcare, youth development and affordable housing charities since 1981.

The figure is expected to approach $90 million later this year when 2008 proceeds are distributed to local charities.  While the wine, food, revelry and festivities are widely reported, the soul of this annual event is the community and the beneficiaries of proceeds. 

Please take a moment to read some personal stories from the clients of Auction Napa Valley grant recipients. 

Auction Napa Valley: Red Wine. White Wine. Green Event.
Whether by piloting a food-waste composting program or serving food on compostable serviceware; replacing water bottles and printed materials with water stations and electronic communications; recycling everything from plastic, aluminum and glass wine bottles right down to the corks pulled from those bottles; or offering attendees shuttle service and carpooling incentives, the NVV took to heart the concept of "reduce, reuse and recycle."

The Napa Valley Vintners set a green goal for Auction Napa Valley of recycling and composting at least 75% of the waste generated; reducing materials produced in the first place; and mitigating the amount of traffic over the course of the weekend—and ensuring that this world-renowned fundraiser benefits our community, on every level.

You can't say no to Y.E.S.
NVV gives nearly $2.4 million for youth development community grants
On June 3, the NVV unveiled the Y.E.S. Initiative... Youth - Education - Success! This nearly $2.4 million Strategic Initiative from the windfall proceeds raised at the 2007 Auction Napa Valley (ANV) was announced on the eve of the 2008 event.

The Y.E.S. Initiative is a three-pronged investment in Napa County children's health and education that will better prepare them for successful lives in the 21st century. First, building on the $1 million gift to the Napa County Children's Health Initiative (CHI), the NVV will grant CHI an additional $355,00 in 2008 with the belief that healthy children become healthy learners. Next, the NVV will give a $1 million challenge grant to help the public high schools in the county develop a teaching program that better prepares its students for either college entrance or better jobs upon high school graduation using the highly successful model of Napa's own groundbreaking New Tech High School. The success of this learning style spawned forty schools nationwide that use this locally developed model and a program of Student-Centered 21st Century Schools (SC21) has evolved. Thirdly, the NVV is giving $1 million in challenge grants for programs that generate opportunities for Napa County children, pre-K through high school. The grants will be given for comprehensive education programs that include youth-to-youth mentoring and leadership, family and community support and involvement and especially to those programs which aim to close the gap of cultural disparity in educational achievement in Napa County.

Click here to reach more about the Y.E.S. Initiative.

Agricultural Preserve is still fabulous at 40
Napa County's Agricultural Preserve was founded with the foresight of vintners, growers and community members in 1968. This local, hard-fought initiative was the first time land in the U.S. had ever been permanently set aside for agriculture, at a time in our nation's history when rapid development was the popular business model, particularly in the open lands of the American west. Today more than 38,000 acres are protected in the Ag Preserve. Maintaining the rural and agricultural heritage of the Valley, which was once considered a radical idea, now serves as the foundation for the Napa Valley Vintners' leadership in stewarding the land with leading edge sustainable agriculture and green business practices. Join us as we toast the 40th Anniversary of the Ag Preserve – a milestone in Napa Valley's history!

Click here for an essay by local journalist Paul Franson on the fascinating story of the formation of the Agricultural Preserve (links to PDF file).

DON'T MISS...

Napa Neighbor – wine discount program for locals only
Looking for something to do with visiting friends and family during summer vacation? Do you simply need a break from your busy schedule but don't have a lot of time to get away? If you answered "yes" then NVV's Napa Neighbor is for you. Members of the NVV extend a special invitation to Napa County neighbors to experience the best that Napa Valley wineries have to offer. Through the Napa Neighbor program, residents can enjoy discounts, private tours and complimentary wine tasting as well as the opportunity to share some of our warm local hospitality. Simply show your driver's license and enjoy a little extra-special treatment – just for living here.

Click here to view a list of participating wineries and special offers. 

WHAT'S HAPPENING...

in the vineyard
Napa Valley is a sea of vineyard greenery. Almost overnight it seems the vines went from budbreak to growing thick clusters of new leaves. Crews may be seen in vineyards thinning out that new shoot growth; by removing this new growth, only the most vital vegetation is left behind, allowing each vine to concentrate its energies on producing fruit.

This past spring was one of the most challenging for vineyard managers with more frost than the Valley has experienced in more than thirty years. Throughout the region, wind machines and overhead irrigation were in full deployment as growers tried to keep the frost at bay. The wind machines, as residents well know sound like a fleet of airplanes, move the air surrounding the vines, mixing the warmer upper air with the cooler soil-surface air in attempts to keep the ambient temperature above 32°F. Overhead irrigation not only moves the air, but more importantly surrounds the fragile buds with a layer of ice that will put these tender greens into a state of suspended animation, like a cryonic effect that unlike the drying effect of frost which causes the "burning" and resulting damage.

The frost "burned" newly formed buds in many locations which will greatly reduce the crop in those affected vineyards. Quality is not the concern, as fruit had not yet formed, but leaf budding which sets the stage for fruit development was disrupted.

Then just a couple of weeks later in early May, as vines were entering the delicate flowering stage throughout the Valley, came a several-day period of incredibly warm, 100°+ daytime high temperatures that essentially caused the vines to temporarily shut down. Flowering is when the grape clusters are conceived, followed by "set," when the tiny beginnings of what will become individual grapes of a cluster are formed on the vine.

Later in the spring, heat is a perfect compliment to what happening in vineyards, where blooms are just beginning to appear on vines. Warm weather speeds up and enhances the pollination process and moves growing season past this very delicate phase of development.

Vineyard workers are involved in hedging and leaf removal. Both these activities are designed to give the grapes good exposure to sunlight and to offer the berries an optimal load of the vine"s nutrients. Leaf removal helps control mildew or bunch rot, which could develop due to moisture and is a commonly used alternative to fungicides.

in the winery
Individual wine lots which may have been kept separate since harvest will be blended for the perfect expression of a winery's style and nuance this time of year. What may seem like a straightforward bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, in most cases, is part art, part science, part guesswork, and part intuition as the winemakers and enologists wrestle with 2% or 3% Cabernet Franc blended with 4% or 7% Merlot for the quintessential expression of that vintage. Even those who produce 100% varietal wines may chose not to include all the unique lots harvested and vinified into the final blend. Taste trials and lengthy discussion will precede the final blend and then bottling. Bottling lines are busy up and down the Valley, all making room for the coming vintage in the cellar.

About the NVV
Now in our seventh decade, the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) non-profit trade association is the sole organization responsible for promoting and protecting the Napa Valley Appellation as a winegrowing region second to none in the world. Respect for our history reinforces our commitment to the preservation and enhancement of the Valley's land, wine, and community for future generations. We address the shared interests of our more than 300 member wineries and aspire to be the essential organization for all Napa Valley vintners.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter. A free subscription form and more about NVV activities and wine industry news and topics of interest can be found at www.napavintners.com.

Next issue: Fall 2008