Artist Ruth Harper and her Flora Springs Dashaway Chardonnay label art.
In the spirit of Flora Springs’ annual tradition of producing special holiday-themed releases. This year we have decided to complement our Etched Holiday red wine offerings with a festive 2015 Dashaway Chardonnay offering. Our charmingly-illustrated Dashaway label features reindeer flying over Napa Valley vineyards on Christmas Eve. Created by illustrator Ruth Harper, who is best known for her work in many New York Times #1 best-selling children’s picture books, she captures a light-hearted whimsy that is reminiscent of the joy and excitement this time of year brings. Flora Springs wishes you, our friends a very happy holiday!
The 2015 Dashaway Chardonnay shows off rich, ripe, caramelized fruit, hints of warm apple pie and notes of Bosc pear and almond paste. Twice-weekly lees stirring and 30% malolactic fermentation give the wine a creamy, open texture, and the long finish coats the mouth in delicious vanilla custard. This is ideal as an aperitif, and also works well with roast turkey with all the fixings.
Left to Right: Anne & Nat Komes, Lindsay & Sean Garvey with their children Sabine & Graham,
and Julie & Pat Garvey SNAPPED WITH LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY SNAPPED WITH LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY SNAPPED WITH LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY SNAPPED WITH LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY SNAPPED WITH LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY
On Sunday, October 29th Flora Springs held a Napa Valley Fire Relief Benefit Music Festival at The Room and generated a total of fifteen thousand dollars for the Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund! The festival was pulled together in record time by Flora Springs family, staff, musicians, and sponsors to support victims of the recent wildfires that blew through the valley earlier this month. Five San Francisco Bay Area bands which included Fellow Vessel, Mr. Kind, Miss Moonshine, Serf & James and Sean Garvey headlined the afternoon and admission was complimentary to the community. Flora Springs wines by the glass and by the bottle were poured with delicious bites from acclaimed purveyors including Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, Market St. Helena, Sorenson Catering, Tre Posti, ZuZu, Lulu Cookies and Ines Biscottito during the fête. “On behalf of my family, I’d like to thank our community for their support in fundraising for this important cause. It warms my heart to see such generosity from our friends and neighbors on behalf of each other.” reflects John Komes, Proprietor of Flora Springs.
Flora Springs will hold a benefit music festival on Sunday, October 29th at The Room in St. Helena with all proceeds going to victims of the recent Napa Valley wildfires through the Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund. The fundraiser, held from 12pm to 5pm, will feature five San Francisco Bay Area bands and musicians including Serf & James, Fellow Vessel, Sean Garvey, Mr. Kind, and Miss Moonshine. Flora Springs wines by the glass and bottle will be poured and small bites will be served. The event will also feature an auction including wines and other items. Admission to the event is complimentary and no RSVP is needed.
“We wanted to jump in quickly and support the Napa Valley community as it recovers from these devastating fires,” said Flora Springs General Manager Nat Komes. Although the fires that raged through parts of Napa Valley hovered at the ridgeline to the west of Flora Springs’ winery and vineyards in Rutherford, the estate escaped unharmed thanks to the heroic efforts of firefighters and first responders.
“We were among the lucky ones, but we know many who were not as fortunate,” said Flora Springs Co-Founder and Proprietor John Komes. “The Festival will raise monies to help fire victims, but will also serve as a way for our community to come together in a show of strength and fellowship. Everyone is welcome.” The lineup of artists includes several who were themselves affected by the fires in Napa and Sonoma Counties.
The following is the festival schedule:
Miss Moonshine
12pm – 12:45pm
This Petaluma, CA band was personally affected by the fires in Sonoma Valley: one lost her house, one lost his job. On October 29th, they come together to bring the healing power of foot-stomping, folk-rock music to The Room.
Fellow Vessel
1pm – 1:45pm
A successful engineer quits his job to form a band with old friends, determined to follow his life’s true passion: that’s the story behind Fellow Vessel. With a catalog of original melodic rock songs, this band inspires anyone with a dream.
Mr. Kind
2pm – 2:45pm
Brian Bergeron and Jonathan Devoto are founding members of Mr. Kind, an electroacoustic band out of Oakland, CA. Over the course of 4 EPs and local shows, they have established their own brand of Americana. They are also founding members of Ivy Hill Entertainment, a music and event production agency responsible for booking music for the Napa Valley Film Festival, and most recently, a summer piano music series at Flora Springs. They will be collaborating with Tapper Dan as part of this performance.
Sean Garvey
3pm – 3:45pm
An accomplished musician, Sean Garvey is also Flora Komes’ grandson and the winery’s vineyard manager. He witnessed the fires that swept through Napa Valley, just a few miles from the Estate and winery that has been home to his family for three generations. Sean is grateful for his family and winery’s safety, and carries a renewed perspective on the fragile nature of our livelihood.
Serf and James
4pm to 5pm
Serf and James live and work in the Napa Valley. In fact, the duo works at Flora Springs. They have played at the Napa Valley Film Festival, BottleRock, and Flora Springs Club members’ weddings and parties.
On Sunday, October 8, 2017, multiple wildfires broke out in Napa and Sonoma Counties. The fires quickly spread with astonishing ferocity.
In the midst of much destruction, we are pleased to report that our family and our staff are safe, and we are so very thankful that no one here at Flora Springs lost their home. Our benchland and valley floor vineyards are also thankfully intact, as is the winery – including our beloved old stone Ghost Winery. Miraculously, because of the growing conditions this year, 100% of our grapes were harvested and under the roof before the fires began.
Unfortunately, not all of our friends and neighbors are as fortunate, and our hearts go out to the folks whose homes and businesses have been damaged or destroyed. Our community is one of resilience and strength, and together we will pull through.
Wildfire boundaries in relation to Flora Springs vineyard locations.
How did you hear about the fire and where were you? We were at home, and up at 2:00 am, as Robin had to get ready for an early flight to NY. I noticed the power was off, and it smelled of smoke. We looked out the bedroom window, and there was an inferno against the black sky to the Southwest. (Of course, I’m sure it was further than it looked, but it looked darn close.)
What has your experience been during the last week and a half? Controlled chaos perhaps? At the onset, it was unpredictable with the high winds so we called all our family first thing. I headed to the winery once I knew everyone was safe and I could see the fire was coming over the ridges between Oakville and Rutherford just south of winery. It burned for days in and around that area, as well as directly behind the winery, so we monitored it closely while getting to work. Fortunately, Flora Springs has a backup generator that can run the entire winery which enabled us to continue working even when the power grid went down.
We were cognoscente of the dangerous situation. Calistoga was closed so the northern route was shut off, Silverado Trail was closed and the eastern route was shut off and that left only one way in and one way out, south on Hwy 29. It was not a great feeling knowing that the fire could certainly move east and block the only road out. If the worst-case scenario happened, we had a backup plan. Fortunately for us, Flora Springs has an extensive cave system. If the fire came over the ridge from Sugar Loaf it would most likely mean that it is an eastern wind. The only material to burn at the winery would be the roof. If we opened the front doors to the main cellar and sought refuge in the back of the cave we would be safe. It would probably pass in less than an hour anyway. I located a 36V power inverter that quickly connects to our electric forklift so if the power went out, and the generator failed, we could still run two 4-foot box fans at the cave entrance to push any smoke out, and away from cave portal just as a safety precaution.
When you first arrived on property what were your first concerns? Evaluating exact location of the fire, and ensuring our people, winery and houses were safe. Since the power was out, we had to ensure there was a sufficient amount of diesel in the generator tank. We converted a plastic 300-gallon lees tank into a diesel tank, shuttled diesel from our filling station to the generator, and siphoned enough diesel to fill the generator with 400 gallons, with another 300 gallons on standby. Since we had 30 or so fermentations going at that time, it was most critical to keep our refrigeration system up and running to manage the fermentation temperatures.
Do you think the vineyards served beneficially as a fire break? Thankfully none of Flora Springs’ vineyards have been damaged. Unlike how the vineyards were portrayed in the movie, “A Walk in Clouds,” they don’t really ignite like that. They do make a decent fire break especially if they are tilled between the rows versus cover between rows. As far as winery protection on the south side, if West Zinfandel Lane continued west, you would run into our Cabernet Franc vineyard in block K. If you drew a straight-line west from Inglewood Lane on the North side of the property, you would run into our cabernet vineyard block N, and Merlot vineyard block L. Block J (Hillside Reserve) vineyard runs in-between those blocks connecting the entire length with contiguous vineyard. In addition, the winery has 4 reservoirs as well.
All the fruit was in before any fire started…will you speak to your perception of anticipated vintage quality? We are very happy with how color, aromatics as well as the flavor profiles have developed in the fermenters. We picked most of our fruit a bit earlier this year, primarily due to the heatwaves we experienced in September. The fruit held up well, but often the skins require additional hang time to resolve and soften the tannins. As a result, we managed the fermentations in such a way as to press the wine off its skins at, or before dryness to avoid any additional skin contact and risk any astringent tannin characteristics.
Will Flora Springs be doing anything differently in the vineyards or on the property to protect against future fire threat? I think we have a pretty good grasp of the property and risks thereof. We keep our grasses low, have vineyards surrounding the winery with reservoirs with pump stations. Dedicated water tanks for fire only, as well as 2 other tanks that can be utilized as fire hydrants or sprinkler systems etc.
The wine country fires had been quite an experience over the past week and a half! Through all the evacuations, flames and thick smoke our dedicated winemaking team continued to show up to work and safeguard our 2017 vintage. Thankfully 100% of Flora Springs grapes were harvested and under the roof before a fire ever started. Here are a few images capturing our devoted team at work in the smokey conditions.
First, thank you to all of you who reached out to us in the past week and to everyone for keeping Napa Valley in your thoughts and prayers during these terrible fires. And thank you to the firefighters and first responders who are still fighting so bravely and selflessly to keep our communities intact.
We are pleased to report that our family and our staff are safe, and we are so very thankful that no one here at Flora Springs has lost their home. Our benchland and valley floor vineyards are also thankfully intact, as is the winery – including our beloved old stone Ghost Winery. Miraculously, because of the growing conditions this year, 100% of our grapes were harvested and under the roof before the fires began. And though helicopters still hover at the ridgeline above and to the west of us, we are cautiously optimistic that conditions will continue to improve in Napa Valley in the coming days.
Unfortunately, not all of our friends and neighbors are as fortunate, and I speak for everyone here at Flora Springs when I say that our hearts go out to the folks whose homes and businesses have been damaged or destroyed. Our community is one of resilience and strength, and together we will pull through. If you are interested in supporting relief efforts in Napa Valley, we encourage you to visit the Napa Valley Community Foundation Disaster Relief Fund.
Finally, we ask that you go to our Facebook page for updated information on visiting The Estate and The Room. We are open for business and welcome visitors, as fall is usually our busiest time of year. Also, please know that our fulfillment centers are not impacted by the fires; we are still able to process orders and club shipments will be delivered as planned. We encourage you to visit our website for any additional wines you’d like to purchase.
This is a challenging time for all of us, but after forty years in Napa Valley, our family and the Flora Springs team remain strong, determined and resilient. Now more than ever, thank you so much for your loyalty and support.
Mother Nature has certainly dealt us quite a hand this year! She dealt us almost two full weeks of Phoenix-like weather with 110–115F days! And just when it was supposed to taper back, and settle into the mid-80’s, she dealt us another round of 100+F degree days – crazy! Fortunately, we were very proactive with our irrigation regimen before, during and after these heatwaves, and made it through relatively unscathed. It certainly sped things up a bit. Presently it is September 27th, and we have already completed 75% of the 60 different lots that we receive. From our total estimated production, we are about 65% through the harvest at this point. Based on what we are seeing in the vineyards, we could complete harvest by the second week of October, if not sooner. It wasn’t that long ago, that we rarely, if ever finished before November!
Not wasting any time, we are already ripping out one of our Sauvignon Blanc vineyards at Crossroads Ranch in Oakville that was faltering due to disease. Fortunately, we sold these grapes to another winery, so it will not affect our Sauvignon Blanc production at all. We will be planting this block to Cabernet Sauvignon and will receive that fruit in the coming years to increase our Oakville Cabernet program.
About the Artist
Currently the official Artist in Residence at Coit Tower in San Francisco, Jeremy Fish has a degree in painting and a focus in screenprinting. His education and work experience has lead to a career as a fine artist and commercial illustrator. Finding a balance between exhibiting his work both across the US, and internationally in galleries and museums, he also maintains a presence designing skateboards, t-shirts, vinyl toys, album covers, periodical illustrations, murals, sneakers – and now, wine labels. His artwork is mainly about storytelling and communication, told through a library of characters and symbols with an emphasis on finding a balance with the imagery somewhere between all things cute and creepy. Jeremy has been based in San Francisco for the last 20 years. Learn more.
We have officially picked all of our Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc for the year. We started the Pinot Grigio on August 15th, and finished the Sauvignon Blanc on August 31st.
We then started harvesting the Lavender Hill Chardonnay in Carneros on September 6th. The very next day, we received Merlot from the Estate. This is the earliest date on record for reds.
Vineyard Crew at The Estate
The last week was pretty crazy…Phoenix-like temperatures in the 115 degree range! On top of that, the valley was blanketed with smoke from a fire burning in Butte County. Fortunately, both have subsided and we are back to average harvest temperatures once again…at least for the time being.
We will be bringing in additional Merlot, as well as Petit Verdot from Oakville, on Monday and Tuesday. Then we will finish up with the last of the white grapes on Wednesday.
The harvest has been pretty fast and furious thus far – keeping things exciting. We were very proactive with our irrigation regimen before and during the heatwave, so the fruit is still in excellent condition. We are extremely pleased with the quality thus far, and expect to make some fantastic wines!
Left to Right: Anne & Nat Komes, Lindsay & Sean Garvey with their children Sabine & Graham,
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Wildfire boundaries in relation to Flora Springs vineyard locations.
