Harvest may be one of the most exciting times of year in Napa Valley, but picking the grapes is only the beginning. Once the fruit leaves the vineyard, the pace inside the cellar quickly picks up.
For our family, harvest is a hands-on season. It is a time of early mornings, long days, careful decisions, and plenty of time spent watching the fruit make its way from vineyard to wine.
It Starts with the Pick
The timing of harvest is one of the most important decisions we make.
Once the grapes reach the balance we’re looking for, they’re carefully picked and brought into the winery. For red varieties, we’re looking for the right combination of ripeness, flavor, acidity, and structure. Every vineyard and growing season is different, so there isn’t one exact formula for knowing when the time is right.
When the fruit arrives at the cellar, the work continues immediately.
From Vineyard to Sorting Table
The first stop is the sorting table.
Here, the grapes are carefully inspected and sorted to make sure only the best fruit moves forward. It’s a simple step, but an important one. Healthy, clean fruit gives us the foundation we need to make balanced, expressive wines.
From there, the grapes are prepared for fermentation.
This is where the character of the vintage begins to take shape.
Fermentation Begins
For red wines, the grapes are placed into tanks where fermentation begins.
Naturally occurring or selected yeasts convert the sugars in the grapes into alcohol, while also helping develop the flavors, aromas, and structure that will define the wine.
During fermentation, our winemaking team is constantly monitoring the tanks. Temperature, timing, extraction, and other details all matter.
It’s not about simply letting the wine happen. It’s about knowing when to step in and when to let the fruit speak for itself.
The Cellar Becomes the Center of Everything
During harvest, the cellar is where much of the action happens.
Tanks are being filled, fruit is being moved, and wines are being monitored throughout the day. It’s physical work, and it’s very hands-on.
For our family, this part of winemaking has always been an important way to understand the process from beginning to end. Michael’s sons, Dante and Matthew, grew up around vineyards and cellars and later worked as cellar hands themselves.
There’s no better way to understand wine than to experience the work that turns grapes into what’s eventually poured at the table.
After Fermentation
Once fermentation is complete, the wine moves into the next stage of its journey.
For many of our red wines, this includes pressing the grapes to separate the wine from the skins and other solids. The young wine is then transferred to barrels or tanks, depending on the style we’re creating.
This is where patience becomes especially important.
The wine needs time to develop, soften, and come together. Throughout this stage, we taste and monitor its progress, making decisions based on how the wine is evolving rather than following a rigid schedule.
Every Vintage Tells a Different Story
One of the things we love most about winemaking is that no two harvests are exactly alike.
Weather, temperatures, vineyard conditions, and the timing of ripening all influence the character of each vintage. Even with the same vineyard and the same winemaking approach, every year brings something different.
Our job is to work with those differences and allow the fruit to express where and when it was grown.
A Family Effort
Harvest is also a reminder that wine is never made by one person.
It takes vineyard workers, cellar teams, winemakers, growers, and family members working together. Everyone plays a role in bringing the fruit through its journey.
At Michael Pozzan Winery, that sense of collaboration is especially meaningful because family has always been at the center of what we do.
From Michael and Mary Ann’s early days building the winery to Dante and Matthew continuing the work today, each generation has added something to the story.
From Harvest to the Table
By the time the grapes are picked, the journey is only beginning.
There will be months of fermentation, aging, tasting, blending, and careful attention before the wine is ready to share. But every bottle begins with this moment: ripe fruit arriving at the cellar and a team ready to turn it into something meant for the table.
That’s what makes harvest so special to us.
It’s busy, messy, exciting, and deeply rewarding. And when we eventually open a bottle from that vintage years later, we get to experience a little piece of the season all over again.
Experience the Season in Napa Valley
With harvest now complete, Napa Valley is beginning its transition into the next season. If you are visiting, we invite you to stop by our tasting room in downtown Napa and enjoy the wines that reflect the care, character, and hard work of this year’s growing season.
From the vineyards to the cellar and eventually to your glass, there’s a lot that goes into every bottle.
For our family, that’s what makes wine so meaningful. It’s not simply what happens after the grapes are picked. It’s the people, patience, and passion that carry them all the way to the table.
And that’s where the real harvest story begins.
