Harvest 2016 Report: Great Grapes, Good Numbers

2015 put the fear of god into many winemakers, if god is someone who doesn’t like grapes. Yields were down across California, often 50% down. The dreaded drought that began in 2012 continued, and while the quality of the grapes was strong, their amount was scant. “As much as we hate the drought,” Doug Margerum of Margerum Wine points out, “The struggling vines are giving us some pretty magnificent fruit to work with.”

Wat to read the rest then do so at the Santa Barbara Vintners Association blog.

A Mighty First & Oak Grows in Solvang

If you can’t bring the people to you, you have to go to the people. At least that’s the way the Rosenson family saw it. Since 2005, they have owned Coquelicot Estate Vineyard just outside of Solvang. But knowing, as Jonathan Rosenson understated it, that “land use in the valley is pretty strict,” they opted to buy the Mirabelle Inn in Solvang as a hospitality center of sorts for their winery rather than build something on the estate itself.

Want to read the rest then do so at the Independent's site.