The Napa Valley: Circa 1971

Our friend Steve Burgess of Burgess Cellars sent us this map of Napa Valley in 1971 when it had only 40 wineries. Today (how things have changed) the valley has approximately 475 wineries.

All white wine comes from white (actually yellowish) grapes.

Answer: False.

No matter if the skins of grapes are red or white, the pulp—the juice and material inside each grape—is almost always white. That means that if red grapes are pressed quickly and the skins are immediately removed from the juice, you can make white wine out of red grapes. The most common example of this is sparkling wine and Champagne where the red grape pinot noir is used to make Champagne, which is generally white.

Autolysis

The decomposition of spent yeast cells. When a wine is left sur lie, or on the lees, it remains in contact with the spent yeasts that performed the fermentation. As the yeasts’ cell walls collapse,… Continue reading

The Napa Valley: Circa 1971

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