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W i n e s & V i n e s n O V e M B e R 2 0 1 4 21 N apa, Calif.—A month after a severe earthquake hit Napa Valley, a freak hailstorm and heavy rains Sept. 26 could have wreaked more havoc on the Napa Valley wine community, but fortunately the hail was confined to a small urban valley, and the rains came when most grapes other than Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Verdot had already been picked. "Surprisingly we were OK," said Anthony Truchard at his family's eponymous winery in the Carneros AVA, close to Brown's Valley, the area where hail piled up inches deep. "There was lots of hail here, but it didn't seem to bother the grapes." Mike Reynolds, the president of Hall Wines in St. Helena, lives in Brown's Valley neigh- borhood in the western part of the city of Napa. "It was really quite amazing," he said. "My backyard garden was completely devas- tated by the hail. We still had ice out in front of our front door two days later." Reynolds added, "We didn't have issues with hail in our vineyards. All of our Pinot Noir and Chardonnay was harvested." Up to a half-inch of rain did drench vine- yards. "Fortunately, nearly all that we still have to harvest is Cabernet Sauvignon, which weathers the rain well," Reynolds said. "We haven't seen any issues." Another large grower reporting no damage was David Beckstoffer, whose family farms more than 1,000 acres of grapes in Napa Val- ley, and as much in Mendocino and Lake counties. Beckstoffer said he was "happy to report that the hail did not affect our vine- yards in Napa, Mendocino or Lake counties. The rain has also had minimal impact except to slow down harvest for a day or two." Garrett Buckland is a partner in Premiere Viticultural Services, which manages about 1,500 acres of vineyards in Napa County. He's also vice president of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers. Buckland said, "So far, everything is doing well. Few vineyards were affected. I haven't heard of any hail damage." He also noted that most of the grapes re- maining on the vineyards are Cabernet Sau- vignon, which is resistant to bursting from over-hydration. —Paul Franson Grapes Unscathed After Hailstorm in Napa Hail battered a Chardonnay vine at a demonstration vineyard in Napa. N O V E M B E R N E W S N O V E M B E R N E W S The original, BOTTLE-MATIC-II 3 YEAR WARRANTY INCLUDED D ISPENSA-MATIC Label Dispensers Price subject to change without notice. 2/01/10 28220 Playmor Beach Rd, Rocky Mount, MO 65072 Call Toll Free: 1 (800) 325-7303 or (573) 392-7684 FAX:(573) 392-1757; E-mail: info@dispensamatic.com Web: http://www.bottle-labeler.com STOP Wasting Time Labeling by Hand! $1800 for Wines & Vines Readers! Front & Back! Label any cylindrical container fast and accurately from ½" to 8" diameter, @ Speeds of 1200 Pcs. per hour. NOT A CHEAP, IMPORTED KNOCK-OFF! 21 day trial MADE IN USA! Front and Back!