The 2021 vintage begins in the vineyards in October of 2020 when vines, now stripped of fruit, set themselves up to repeat the cycle.

Vineyard removal and redevelopment begins at Galleron Ranch.

Although dormant above ground vines, deeply rooted, are alive and working under the soil.

Shorter days, and a lower angle of the sun makes for dramatic morning light.

Holiday meals often prompt spontaneous cellar raids. In 1989 John’s daughter Kelly was the same age as her son Hal.

Family convened on the porch and a good time was had by all – six feet apart in the open air.

Morning frost sparkles in the cover crop.

In January our home garden always feels orderly and purposeful, a harbinger of the spring bloom to come.

Unable to travel, we found new ways to reach our audience, live-streaming wine tasting events via social media and conducting virtual tastings all over the world.

Sadie loaned her support to a new administration in January.

Hard to believe it’s now been a full year since the littlest Williams arrived.

It was a pretty dry winter but we did get some spectacular days. This was taken on February 3  in Rutherford.

Morning walk with Ceres by the Rossi pond.

The most photographed time of year in the Napa Valley.

Still masking up we didn’t see many guests so we often had the whole place to ourselves.

February is a busy month in the vineyards and Rory is often out up and early. Tailgate breakfast from La Luna (and baby Alma asleep in the back seat) made for a sweet moment.

Edible Garden Beds are rotated annually. Here cover crop before the spring bed preparation begins.

Baby chicks arrive in time to take up residence in the new coop. Mostly production reds recommended for their ability to thrive in hot summer weather.

Peas, vetch and other cover plants sown in late fall grow to waist high before being mowed and tilled into the soil, making a fine hiding place for grandkids.

A portion of the garden that was redeveloped in 2020 to create more outdoor tasting spaces has become a favorite spot for many guests as well as for Sadie.

Kylor and Annie keep nephew Hal busy pulling spring carrots out of the garden at Rossi.

With cover crop tilled in the ground is looking dry as the vines leaf out. Storm clouds were a welcome sight.

Degge Hayes teaching Tori how to extract honey from frames. Degge moved to the east coast in 2022 but we feel his presence daily in the garden he helped create.

We didn’t see a lot of rain in April but we sure had a beautiful (if early) bloom in the garden.

The 2020 Valdiguié is released.

We can never bear to eat all the artichokes because they make such beautiful weird flowers.

So much vineyard work is highly specialized and all but invisible to most. Grafting is one of those things – a skill passed down from one generation to the next.

Assistant Winemaker Xochilt Polanco and John pose for a photo. John, Rory, Pablo and Xochilt make up our father/son, father/daughter multi generational family winemaking team.

Chuy, our garden foreman working in the orchard – look closely and you’ll see we’re still masking up…

The chickens are now in residence in the new coop and beginning to lay!

We lost our dear friend and colleague Amigo Bob in 2020. To celebrate his birthday June 25th,  Leapers gathered in the Farm Center and made some epic tie dye t-shirts.

John’s truck is loaded up with peaches to take to the production kitchen while new French oak barrels visible in the background are getting prepped for the cellart.

We met Fire Chief Danny in 2017 when he was assigned to Rutherford. Honored to toast he and his wife Terry  at Mustard’s to celebrate their 30th anniversary.

Just before harvest began in 2021 as the country began to open back up John managed to squeak in a quick trip East. This was the first trip in a post vaccine world. First stop, Cleveland, where the team from Vintage set up a beautiful tasting of older wines.

Family gathering Clymer, New York – four generations of Williams on a classic summer afternoon.

A visit with old friends – (r to l) Herman Wiemer, Fred Merwarth, John and Oskar Bynke. Fred, Oskar and their families are carrying on Herman’s legacy.

Harvest begins to unfold in early August, when the winemaking team begins to walk every vineyard, sampling fruit and gathering information that will help set the pick schedule.

The 2021 begins with an early morning Sauvignon Blanc pick at Williams’ Rossi Ranch.

Pretty sure she ate her weight in Sauvignon Blanc at the first pick!

With almost a year of successful vaccinations for Covid under our belts, we toasted the 2021 harvest kick off in traditional if slightly subdued fashion.

As we headed into summer it was clear that it would remain a very dry year and this shot of the avenue at Galleron Ranch is a solid reminder.

Arriving smack in the middle of harvest,  August 31st. Second son of Kelly and Jeff Dodd and also a brother,  grandson, nephew and cousin.

Riesling from Rossi Ranch in hand (literally, ha ha) September 3rd.

Zinfandel  fermenting in the Red Barn on September 4th.

Tori’s cousins Kris Magaurn and Mackenzie Magaurn Spada were ready and willing to be pressed into pre-dawn service during an August visit. By 8am all the bins were in for the day.

Considering the early hour John is looking pretty  happy with this pick at Rossi.

Frank Leeds and Lauren Leeds Pesch on the crush pad as the first of the Chavez Leeds Cabernet is delivered. Two generation of family working side by side at Frog’s Leap is becoming a theme.

John joined fellow winemakers from Stag’s Leap to celebrate another milestone for the Winiarski Family’s storied winery.

Grill the chops, hold the eggs. With most picking being completed shortly after sunrise, John and Rory mastered breakfast barbecue this harvest.

Kylor and Annie Su Williams welcomed our second harvest baby on September 25th, putting additional pressure on John and Rory to insure this vintage  stands the test of time!

Each year the pre-harvest party kicks off with the cooking of an entire pig. Manuel might be a good cellar man but he also makes killer salsa.

Harvest is a wrap and its time to celebrate. The placid setup for the Harvest Party belies the rowdy fiesta that followed. Most colorful one yet.

As soon as fruit is off the vines, thoughts turn to the next growing cycle and that means prepping to seed cover crop. And with that the cycle begins anew…

The 2021 growing/vintage year concluded October 8, but winemaking work continues in the cellar.