What Happens During Early Spring at our Winery?

What Happens During Early Spring at our Winery?

Work never ends in the vineyards and wineries of Napa Valley.  While vineyard managers have been actively preparing their hibernating vines for the coming year following extensive pruning and checking soil health, the wineries of Napa Valley are in full gear,...
Harvest-Season-Looms-County-Fire-Extinguished

Harvest-Season-Looms-County-Fire-Extinguished

August is when we begin to feel the seasonal pace of things pick up a notch, and everyone knows the deadline of fruit on the vine drives the calendar.  There is a wine to go into the bottle, barrels to sort, new barrels to medicine and number, and vineyard visits to...
Bell-Rhine-Cruise-Completed

Bell-Rhine-Cruise-Completed

Anthony and I have just returned from a chilly trip up the Rhine, beginning in Amsterdam on April 1st.  Floating on a river of water running so rapidly it tilted the channel markers, we watched the world slowly change from a flat, green delta to the precariously steep...
Napa-Valley-Vintners-Premiere

Napa-Valley-Vintners-Premiere

This year, we’re hosting a Premiere preview event along with our new neighbors next door, Mira Winery (www.mirawine.com) and Hoopes Vineyard (www.hoopesvineyard.com).  Just to make it interesting, we decided to collaborate on a joint lot of 20 cases – all three of us...
2017-Wrap-2018-Horizon

2017-Wrap-2018-Horizon

As I watch faded leaves fall from the oak above the office window, and think about this year about to end, I have to conclude that it has been one of the most challenging we have faced in the 20 years here at BELL.  The weather alone kept us continually alert with the...