This year's harvest was one of the earliest on records. Quality is very high, but the crop for nearly every varietal was below average in size in our Yountville and Oakville vineyards. Lighter crop contributed to early ripening. Rob believes the conditions made for stellar white wines from 2004—the white varietals achieved full maturity of flavors at lower Brix, which means that if all goes well in the cellar, the wines will be deliciously ripe without being hot.

The Sauvignon Blanc was harvested a month earlier than average! Rob found a white peach character in the wine that we love to taste, along with the grassiness and grapefruit the varietal is known for. Pinot Blanc was also quite early. Sunburn is often a problem with Pinot Blanc grapes, but this year the fruit was very clean and needed minimal sorting in the vineyard or on the sorting tables before crush.

Pinot Noir was also early and light. This year we are using the Dijon clone and the juice is beautifully extracted in terms of color and flavor. Rob is finding the earthy, dusty Burgundian character he loves from the Dijon clone #113 in our Pinot Noir this year.

Zinfandel, which has a reputation for uneven ripening in the bunches, was carefully sorted in the vineyard so that very little green shot berries were brought into the winery. Rob called the color of this year's Zin "phenomenal," and the flavors are the jewel-toned red raspberry-cherry that make Napa Wine Company Zinfandel stand out from the competition.

Harvest of our Cabernet Sauvignon is expected to be completely finished by October fifth. After a hot July and August, September cooled down significantly, with a marine layer of fog hanging around most mornings until noon. Again, the crop is light and quality appears excellent, but there is some concern about getting fully ripe flavors from the grapes still out on the vines.

Overall, the 2004 white wines will be stunning and the reds look to be quite good if not great—it is still very early in the game. We will provide a final harvest report at the end of the year.