With Lauren and Ron Nicholsen S E P T E M B E R / O C TO B E R 2 0 1 3 9 publisher’s note Driving up and down the Napa Valley for all the events I’m privileged to attend has a special feeling this time of year. This is when the Valley comes alive with harvest and celebration. Leaves on the vines and surrounding trees beam brightly in magical colors before they go dormant for another season. It’s easy to fall in love with the Napa Valley. I recently entertained an old high school friend from Michigan and he asked me if I ever got tired of the scenery. “Absolutely not,” I replied. “It’s one of the many reasons I have made the Napa Valley home for almost twenty-five years.” The buzz, the smell, and the hard work all culminate in a celebration of the latest harvest that truly sustains our way of life. After a scary dry winter season, we have been blessed with mild temperatures thus far this summer. The 2013 growing season is predicted to be a very good year for all grape growers, according to the Napa Valley Vintners. I receive emails from numerous vintners announcing harvest festivities and their optimism for the new vintage. The people of this Valley are jewels of giving and merriment. One couple I was honored to meet—Lauren and Ron Nicholsen of Kelham Vineyards —is beautiful both on the inside and out and captivated my curiosity for their story. Read our cover story on page 14. Even though Napa Valley is known as a world-class wine region, the harvesting of grapes isn’t the only celebratory harvest. More and more acclaimed chefs are enhancing their epicurean fare with produce freshly picked from the resurrected beautiful and bountiful gardens of the former COPIA. See story on page 48. of Kelham Vineyards My final thought moving into fall: It’s with mixed emotions that we had to say good-bye to Tyler Warren, a Napa Valley Life stalwart for the past four years. Tyler started working for NVL as an intern from New Technology High School. Upon graduation, I hired him to be a production assistant, calendar editor and delivery guy. I could always count on Tyler to take on any task at hand, and he would own it. This fall he took the next step toward his goal of becoming a teacher by entering Humboldt State University. We are all very happy for this next chapter in his life, but will sorely miss his positive demeanor and hard work around NVL. Cheers! If the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter does sneak into Napa County, it could be in the back of a car or pick-up truck. The best way to keep the Sharpshooter out of the county is by not bringing plants in. Buy all your garden and landscape plants from certified plant retailers inside Napa County, where shipments have been inspected before sale. Thanks to our grapegrowers, landscapers, certified plant retailers and YOU, the Sharpshooter has not yet established itself in the Napa Valley. But to keep it out, we must keep working together. For more information about how you can help, please call us at 1.866.BUG.SPOT or visit WWW.BUGSPOT.ORG. Egg masses travel on the underside of plant leaves A project of the Napa County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office
NVLife_SeptOct_2013
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