The Natural Process Alliance

This morning at the brisk hour of 4am, harvest official began for us with the first Pinot Gris cluster plucked from the vine. Tiny is the word of the day with clusters the size of business cards and berries more reminiscent of blueberries than grapes. Expecting in the neighborhood of 4 tons the scales revealed our tiny haul of a mere 2 tons. With absolutely beautiful fruit we should have a very small amount of wine with a large amount of character come Winter. With my trusty assistant Louisa by my side and good friend David stopping by to lend a hand, we put all two tons into an open top tank keeping all of the clusters and berries intact.  Here are some of the pictures from the day...

(CLICK ON THE PICTURES FOR A SLIDE SHOW)

My phone rings and it is Art Robledo, vineyard manager extraordinaire, “Kevin; O’neel sold” I barely hear through the bad connection. “WHAT!?” is the only response I can come up with, “yeah, my lease was canceled, all contracts are off”. And thus begins the nightmare of every winemaker that does not own land. You see, Art was leasing the land so when it sold, he was out and so was I. Here was the anchor for The NPA, a beautiful organic Sauvignon blanc vineyard in the Russian River Valley farmed by one of the best. SB in cool climate was an anomaly, having Art lease and farm the land was lucky and having it be organic was just plain ridiculous. I hang up the phone and a string of obscenities echos through the cellar. 

Here we are, a little more than a month left before harvest. It is late in the game to source fruit, any fruit. Let alone my requirements of farming responsibly without chemicals, a diverse property that nurtures biodiversity, stunning soil and vines, and a price point that allows your average person to enjoy a bottle on a Tuesday night. Yep, I was screwed.

I would let the thoughts of moving cheese while taking baby steps through doors that randomly open and close plague my sleep. Now was the time to make the phone call, over and over. “totally sucks, I loved that fruit. Yeah you know what I like, let me know if you hear of anything.” 

That was followed by days of many conversations that would start on a high “you’ve got 25 year old Tocai Friulano!” and end quickly “yeah, the round up kinda knocks you out of the organic camp.”

Then came another call that would no doubt follow the same progression. “Hi Kevin, I have some Sauvignon blanc that just became available.” Here we go, ask the chemical question first to make this short I was thinking but then, “Pat Rodgers said I should give you a call”. Wow, big point there, Pat farms the Biodynamic Sun Hawk Farms for the NPA. Please go on!

And she did with one magical word after another. The vines were planted in ’69, and have been organic since the beginning. They have been dry farming this rocky bench land property in Redwood Valley for 23 years and were certified by CCOF in 1990. They have 25 acres 10 of which are untouched oak woodland. 

Enough said, I will be out in two days for a visit. 

 During the visit the chickens were out in force, I gave up counting jack rabbits, and discovered a blue belly lizard living in the trunk of one of the gnarled old vines. The vines were even planted around a redwood and an old walnut tree. Around the perimeter of the vines you could find plum, walnut and apple trees along with the family vegetable garden complete with active bee hives. 

John and Jan Upton have been farming this land for 23 years and their love and respect shine through in every aspect. 

Add to this Super Chavez with some of the best tacos in the state en-route and you have a winner. Somehow through luck or fate, I have found a new anchor for The NPA. 

All you need to do is;

#1 Buy or Refill a NPA Kanteen at one of the following three locations from July 22nd to August 5th 2011.

The Winery

Arlequin Wine Merchant in San Francisco

The Punchdown in Oakland

#2 Give them your name, phone number, email and the bottle number from your purchase.

#3 Anxiuosly wait for the random drawing that will happen on Saturday August 6th.

RULES!!!

#1 You must be at least 21 years old to participate.

#2 One entry for each bottle number that is purchased or refilled. There is no limit to the number of times you can be entered.

#3 One name will be randomly selected on Saturday August 6th. 

We look forward to seeing you there!!!

Here are the place you can grab a glass of the freshness

San Francisco:

Acquerello

Arlequin

Barbacco

Commonwealth

Delfina (18th ST)

Local: Mission Eatery

Namu

NOPA

The Slanted Door

Sons and Daughters

Marin County:

Sushi Ran

East Bay:

Plum

The Punchdown

RETAIL!

SF: Arlequin

Oakland:  The Punchdown

Sonoma:  The NPA Tasting Room

The NPA / Salinia Wine Co., 
3350 Coffey Lane,  
Santa Rosa, CA 95403

(707) 527-7063

Tasting Room Hours

Monday - Thursday   By chance or by appointment

Friday - Sunday  10:30 - 4:30

Sushi Ran and The NPA!

Join winemaker Kevin Kelley for an amazing night of sushi and Japanese cuisine.

Kevin and crew will be pouring wines, polishing glasses, and perhaps sweeping floors--  They'll be available throughout the night for questions about the wines of The NPA.

Sushi Ran

107 Caledonia Street Sausalito, CA 94965  

Reservations (415) 332-3620