Ripening weather is unbelievable for 2013 Napa wines

Winemakers in the Napa Valley are looking forward to a great 2013 vintage as they enjoy perfect ripening conditions for their harvest. The cooler nights are allowing fruit to maintain acidity through ripening, a hallmark of a great vintage in Napa Valley. So there was an upbeat mood across California.

One Napa winemaker said people who love Napa Valley wines will find a lot to love in 2013 wines. They started harvesting and crushing this week and across the board the colour, ripeness and flavours of the grapes are right where they should be.

In Sonoma County, Noah Dorrance, winemaker and co-founder of Banshee, said they had harvested everything three-to-five weeks earlier than normal and 90% of the cool climate Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir was in tanks by early September. She went on to say that the quality has been amazing thus far with superb flavour development at relatively low sugars.