News & Events

December 18, 2008 Happy Holidays!

The holiday season is always a time for reflection. With that in mind, all of us at Pride would like you to know that we are thankful to each and every one of you for your support of the winery. That you choose to enjoy our wines is something that we don't take for granted. There are many, many wonderful wines in the world and we sincerely appreciate the relationships we've forged with you and the investment you've chosen to make when purchasing our wines.

We wish you all the most joyous of holiday seasons and a very happy new year.

November 26, 2008 Live in the Vineyards

Hospitality tours, winery events, pouring wine, hanging around with beautiful pop music starlets…..the hard work never ends for Pride Mountain Vineyards’ Hospitality & Events Coordinator, Mike Campbell.

Over the weekend of November 8th and 9th, Pride Mountain Vineyards, along with several other notable Napa Valley wineries, participated in Live in the Vineyards, an invite-only, private concert held at Napa Valley’s famed Silverado Resort. Described as a once-in-a-lifetime private weekend getaway, with acoustic concerts featuring the hottest singer/songwriters of the moment, Live in the Vineyards provided intimate acoustic concerts, vineyard tours, and wine & food pairings for approximately 220 radio contest winners from across the country.

Headlining the standing room only Sunday night show were current pop sensation, Colbie Caillat (shown here with Mike and a bottle of 2006 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon) and the amazing Sarah Mclachlan (shown here with Mike and future pop music starlet, Sydney Campbell). Other performers included up-and-comers Matt Wertz, Thriving Ivory, the Gabe Dixon Band, Erin McCarley and John McLaughlin.

November 10, 2008 Harvest Fiesta 2008!

Sunday, November 10th dawned clear and cool, providing perfect weather for the 150 or so vineyard, office and sales employees and their families who gathered for the annual Harvest Fiesta thrown every year by the Pride family to celebrate the end of harvest. Big inflated jumpy gyms for the kids (young and old), musical entertainment by Mariachi Terasco, our vineyard manager, David Orosco's famous pork carnitas, and libations ranging from Pride wines to some excellent tequilas, ensured that a good time was had by all.

Many thanks to Tim Bouchet, our Director of Retail Sales, for putting together such a great party!

November 10, 2008 Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!

Winemaker Sally Johnson was one of a panel of test drivers for the Robb Report’s upcoming “Car of the Year” issue. After hosting the eclectic panel of test drivers, made up of car aficionados and philanthropists, for a pre-event dinner at Pride Mountain Vineyards on Thursday, November 6th, Sally and the group spent following day rating the performance of thirteen luxury sports cars by zooming through the back roads of the Napa Valley. Though the identity of the cars is top secret until the magazine is published, Sally tells us to expect some surprises among this range of innovative cars. She promises a well-rounded selection that offers something for everyone – from over-the-top luxury models to exhilarating speedsters and cutting-edge vehicles leading the charge towards breakthroughs in performance and efficiency.

Her personal favorite? You'll have to wait till the issue hits newsstands in March, 2009 to read all about it.

November 03, 2008 2008 Harvest Overview

With weary bodies but upbeat spirit, our vineyard crew paused for a photo after picking the last grapes from our Rock Arch Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard on Thursday October 30th.  The crew had more than earned their moment of rest after this year’s harvest, as uneven fruit ripening conditions required multiple picks of each vineyard block. 

2008 presented us with exceptionally low yields (less than one ton per acre in some blocks) and exceptionally high quality – but we sure had to work to get it.  The low yields resulted from our worst freeze ever in late April and unusually hot and windy conditions at fruit set which resulted in only a fraction of the usual number of berries being pollinated. Uneven ripening began with the uneven fruit set and was exacerbated by temperature extremes during veraison, when ripening began.  Our solution was to pick each block as many as three times, instructing our experienced vineyard crew to pick just the clusters that were fully ripe on each pass through the blocks.  The resulting wines display a range of flavors, from luscious red fruit through jammy black fruit, coffee and cocoa.  We expect 2008 to be similar to 2001, 2002 and 2006, some of our ripest, most expressive vintages.   

Hours after picking the last grapes from our ranch on Thursday October 30, the skies clouded over and the rain began to fall.  Now that our 2008 harvest is over, the rains are both welcome and much needed, as our soils soak up the moisture that will provide sustenance to our 2009 vintage.

October 29, 2008 2008 Touch the Terroir

The week of October 13th, the Spring Mountain District Association hosted twenty-seven sommeliers and wine buyers from around the country for four days of seminars, tastings and "work-withs" at member wineries.  Participants met winemakers, worked with vineyard managers and enjoyed accomodations that ranged from guest suites in the homes of our gracious neighbors to cabins in the vineyards.

 For the complete press release, click here to visit the Spring Mountain District's website.

September 20, 2008 Welcome Mari de Jager!

This vintage offers something new and exciting for the Pride Mountain Vineyards crew - we are hosting our first international harvest intern, Mari de Jager from South Africa. Mari joins the team after completing a degree in cellar management at the University of Stellenbosch and working stints in Champagne, Austria and at Vilafonte Winery where she trained under renowned winemaker Zelma Long. Her outgoing personality and her enjoyment for long days of hard work made her an instant hit with her new coworkers at Pride Mountain Vineyards, and she is here pictured paying homage to Lucy and Ethyl by stomping our first Merlot grapes of the season with her bare feet. Although we don't usually crush our grapes this way, we thought it was an appropriate induction, and Mari was happy to oblige! Be sure to say hi to Mari if you visit the winery during her stay, which will last through the end of the year. Mari will begin a degree program in enology when she returns to South Africa.

September 08, 2008 Grapes!

Still looking rested and relaxed, our winemaking team Romel Rivera, Ruben Ayala, Sally Johnson (winemaker) Phillip Aquino and Lawrence Cortez saw the first grapes of 2008 on Thursday, September 4th. While two weeks earlier than first pick last year, Sally reports that the year seems to be on track, neither particularly early nor particularly late. Yields are low, but fruit quality, happily, is very high. Stay tuned for more detailed reports and photos!

July 21, 2008 Veraison!

On Monday, July 14th, we spotted the first pink berries in our estate vineyard. This is “veraison,” always an exciting time at the winery as we look forward to another harvest. Sangiovese, one of our earliest red grape varieties, is leading the charge, beating even the white grapes in the progression towards this year’s harvest. We expect the Chardonnay and Viognier to begin to soften and turn from green to gold within a few days to a week, but color in the Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc will most likely not appear for another two weeks. This is about the same as last year or even a little earlier, but it’s still too soon to predict whether this will be an early, typical, or late harvest. Last year, for example, all factors pointed to an early harvest, but in September, vineyard temperatures dropped, and we didn’t really start picking until after a week of late October “Indian Summer” finally appeared.

The onset of veraison is affected by many factors, including the timing of bloom, weather during bloom and weather after berry set. This year, bloom occurred over an extended, cool period, with occasional wind, heat spikes and rain, weather conditions that keep every winegrower awake at night hoping that the crop will set. As bloom and
berry set were completed, we saw that our Merlot vines (and, to a lesser extent, some Cabernet Sauvignon blocks) experienced moderate shatter, where some flowers were not fertilized to form berries. The result is grape clusters that are loose and open, with plenty of room for air to flow and sun exposure – a perfect environment for creating
concentrated, ripe flavors. Our crop is light this year. Frost in the early spring and shatter at bloom reduced what was already a small crop – many shoots have only one cluster and some have none at all, where they would have two clusters in an average year. With weather that has so far been excellent for fruit quality, we will produce less wine this year, but expect to achieve great intensity and concentration. Predictions are for moderately warm weather through the end of July, and we will be eagerly watching our vineyard blocks as they progress through veraison and begin the long ripening process, culminating in the 2008 harvest.

Sally Johnson
Winemaker

May 30, 2008 The hippest place to be on a Thursday night

It may be quite a commute for some, but the patio at Go Fish in St. Helena is the place to be on Thursday nights! The cocktails are good and the sushi is fabulous, but the real reason to go is to see our own Mike Campbell (stage left) and his partner in crime, Scott Castro, strut their stuff as they shed the trappings of their day jobs and emerge as Hall1. A soulful, alternative acoustic guitar duo, the two combine lush vocal harmonies and intelligent lyrics with well crafted guitar melodies, offering many memorable original pieces, along with a diverse and beautifully interpreted range of covers.

Go Fish
641 Main St.
St. Helena, CA 94574
Thursday nights from 6:00 - 9:00 all summer long

We'll look for you next week! 

May 01, 2008 Spring Wine Offering - Tuesday, May 6th

Watch your mailbox! Tuesday, May 6th will be the day to order your 2007 Viognier, 2006 Merlot, 2006 Cabernet Franc and 2006 Syrah. As always, the most limited production wines in our spring offering are our Syrah and Cabernet Franc and we expect them to sell out quickly. Those of you who like to stock up on Viognier and Merlot will also want to order early, as this year we will be accepting "wishes" for a second order of one or both of these two wines. Wishes will be granted in early June as inventory allows, and in the order in which they were received. The best part? If we have enough wine to grant your wish, the shipping for your wish order is on us! (Wish orders, if available, will be billed automatically and packed and shipped separately.)

Stay tuned! Online ordering will be available once you've received your email announcing the offering. We look forward to hearing from you then!

April 08, 2008 What? You Weren't Watching TV at 3:00 Yesterday Afternoon?

After being two of the thirty-six member judging panel for the National Women's Wine Competition earlier this month, winemaker Sally Johnson and Tracy Dutton, beverage manager at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, CA were invited to appear live on the View from the Bay on Monday, April 7th. Tasting through three wines with host Janelle Wang, Sally and Tracy also had a few moments to talk about the significance of women both as wine consumers and as important players in the wine industry.

Watch Sally & Tracy's segment on the View from the Bay

April 04, 2008 Oh, That Southern Hospitality . . .

Fortunately for those of us at the winery, the Peachtree State is a long way away . . . otherwise we might see a lot less of Carolyn Pride. Returning from a trip with son in law and national sales manager, Stuart Bryan, for the High Museum Atlanta Wine Auction last weekend, it was clear that she truly enjoyed the gracious hospitality and the cultural opportunities presented by our friends 2500 miles away.

The fundraising weekend kicked off when hosts Sara and John Shlesinger opened their beautiful home to a wonderful dinner featuring Pride wines, prepared by Executive Chef Robert Gerstenecker of the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta (left, with Carolyn Pride and Assistant Sous Chef, Hakan Coskun).

Friday night brought the Gala Dinner and Auction, where after another evening of great wine, food and company, our magnum vertical of 2000 - 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon and a VIP trip to the vineyard for two couples raised $11,000 for the High Museum Atlanta.

Not to be outdone by their neighbors in Atlanta, the final stop on this weekend of southern hospitality was a lovely wine dinner put on by the brothers Greg and Gary Butch at their much lauded restaurant in Savannah, Elizabeth's on 37th. Thirty plus guests enjoyed a lovely menu of Chef Kelly Yambor's creations based on locally sourced ingredients and the restaurant's own house grown herbs and edible flowers, complimented by Pride wines chosen just for the occasion.

Thank you to everyone involved in making this such a great weekend!

March 21, 2008 It Must Be Spring!

As the first sleepy shoot tips poke their way out into the crisp spring air, we begin our journey towards Harvest 2008. Sunny days and high temperatures reaching the mid-seventies signal the end of a long and unusually cold winter.

This photograph was taken on Friday March 21, 2008 in our Mountain Top Chardonnay vineyard and are the very first buds to break on the ranch this year.

Since evening temperatures are still quite chilly and regula