Napa Valley, Calif. -- Harvest has just started in Napa Valley. Last Thursday, Domain Chandon picked Pinot Noir for sparkling wines, as did Mumm on Friday. Today, the Napa Valley Grapegrowers held its fifth annual press conference to talk about this year's harvest. The event had been delayed a week, because mild weather delayed progress slightly, and the speakers wanted to have a little better idea of the crop.

The conference was held at Trefethen Vineyards, a large property in the relatively cool Oak Knoll appellation of southern Napa County, and the weather was perfect under ancient walnut trees along Dry Creek, where Jon Ruel, the winery's director of viticulture and winemaking, was able to outline the steps Trefethen is taking to restore the creek.

The fine weather was fitting, for it's been an almost-perfect growing season so far, though a number of speakers cautioned that a lot could still happen before the last grapes are picked.

If the weather has been great this year, clouds still hang over Napa Valley. The sputtering economy has crippled many wineries, and that was as of much concern as the weather.

Ruel was the first to speak. "It was a mild vintage," he said. "While we only received 75% of the rain we get on average, more came in the spring with perfect timing, and we had less frost than in 2008."

He reported that the temperatures were mild: "We've had cooler than average conditions the last three years." Fortunately, warm but not hot weather arrived last week, and the grapes are ripening nicely.

Ruel noted that veraison came earlier and quicker to Cabernet than Merlot this year, which is unusual. He expects to start picking Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for sparkling wine for customers in a few days, and he'll start harvesting grapes for Trefethen's still estate wines in three weeks, the Pinot and Chardonnay just after Labor Day. He said that yield is a little up from last year's levels, which were 10% below average.

Addressing the economy that's on everyone's mind, Ruel said that the majority of grapes in Napa Valley are sold under long-term contracts negotiated a few years back, so most growers aren't too concerned about selling their grapes.

Nevertheless, he said he's been preparing to run a leaner operation for years, notably by adopting natural farming practices to reduce the need for inputs like seeded cover crops, fertilizer and hand labor around the vines. "We use native plants for weed control, and just mow them at the right time."

Part of the vineyards use underground irrigation, which reduces weeds and encourages the vines to dig deep. "We want the wines to come into natural balance."

Michael Beaulac, general manager and winemaker at Pine Ridge Vineyards in Stags Leap District, manages 15 vineyards in five appellations and also buys from three growers under long-term contracts that allow Pine Ridge to control management.

"It's an average harvest," he said, with no frost. He mentioned that the Merlot the winery grows in Carneros set loose clusters, and he expects low yield. But veraison happened very fast. Pine Ridge expects to pick its rare Stags Leap Chardonnay in the week of Sept. 7.

Remi Cohen is vice president of vineyard operations for Juliana Vineyards and Merryvale Vineyards, and she manages vineyards in Carneros, St. Helena and Pope Valley. She said 2008 was pretty difficult, but 2009 has been nice and mellow -- so far.

"We had a dry, cool winter and late bud break, then got more than an inch of rain the first week in May. That helped us minimize irrigation," she recalled.

Unfortunately, it also encouraged vegetation, so workers had to give extra attention to the canopy to balance vegetation and fruit. Cohen said that early on, they thought they'd have a big crop, but a heat wave May 16-17 followed by rain in June caused shatter. "We expect average to below yield in Cabernet and Merlot, average in Chardonnay." 

She expects to start picking young Sauvignon Blanc in Pope Valley this week, and to start the Pinot Noir in 10 to 15 days. "It's at 21º Brix now."

The final speaker, Matt Taylor, winegrower at Araujo Estate Wines in Calistoga, arrived at the meeting late: The Calistoga winery started picking Sauvignon Musqué at 5 a.m. today.

He mentioned that the winery had low yields last year, but the late rains were very helpful this year. "The June heat wave stopped the green growth at a good time, and we started getting early veraison before we had to irrigate."

He mentioned, too, that the organic/Biodynamic vineyard eliminated using sulfur dust in 2008, and is now using whey. "We've seen little mildew." He added, "The workers like to be able to apply it in their shorts and T-shirts."

In final questions about the prospects for the year, Trefethen's Ruel said the industry in Napa Valley was coming into balance at the end of 2008. "We were headed for a shortage. We're grateful this didn't happen in 2005, when we had a huge surplus." And proprietor Janet Trefethen added, "There's not enough vineyards going in to meet the demand." Her ranch has some large blocks lying fallow before replanting, and that seems fortunate under the circumstances.