The 2012 growing season in the North Coast was, in many respects, nearly perfect. Shot in vineyards across Napa Valley, Lake County, Mendocino, and Sonoma County, this is what it looked like.
After a dry winter, much welcome spring rains saturated the soil and filled reservoirs. The primordial clusters that were nestled in so many buds in so many valleys and across so many hillsides bloomed and set generous amounts of fruit as the skies cleared for what would be a long and ideal growing season. After two challenging years, growers were thrilled and hesitated to drop fruit even as it seemed as though there would be more grapes than we knew what do with. That turned out to be the case. As harvest began in September and continued through October, fermentation tanks overflowed and growers hustled to find homes for tons of grapes. It was a joyous year; a year of plenty, the year of the grower.
Both vines and farmers went dormant for the winter. Then it all began again.
Read all the vineyard reports here.
