One topic of discussion that is brought up by many who visit the winery is that of the beautiful weather in Napa. We all know Napa has one of the best climates in the world, especially as grapes are concerned. We seem to strike a perfect balance of sun, rain, temperature, and soil types year in and year out and 2007 was no different. Although our harvest just began (October 11th) with Merlot in the Coombsville area of Napa, our friends up north in the Valley are already done with their Cabernet, which we won't begin to harvest for another few weeks.

Although the 2007 harvest looks to be very promising, it did not start out looking as such. California recorded the lowest snow pack levels since 1988 and rainfall in the Valley was down significantly from an average of 25-30 inches to right around 18 inches for 2007. With this reduced rainfall came several unanticipated benefits to the vines. First, the lower amount of rain worked to create smaller berries with higher levels of concentration, a phenomenon which makes any red winemaker smile from ear to ear. A second benefit was the vines had reduced canopies due to the lack of rainfall, which in turn necessitated a need for less water. All of these unanticipated benefits were capped off by mostly cool weather which seemed to fight the need for addiditonal irrigation.

At this stage in the season, with just a few weeks left before Cabernet harvest, the vines look to have produced even clusters of small highly concentrated fruit which should in turn lend itself very well to the production of another exquisite vintage of Frazier Cabernet and Merlot. All in all a nice growing season.