Hugh Johnson 'There is real excitement to be found among neglected grape varieties'

Gondolas were everywhere. That’s what they call the skips brimming with the harvest – the Venetian analogy presumably from the fact that they both turn up at the ends.

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In October, the Napa Valley vintage was in full swing; a huge crop, the vines turning yellow against a sombre background: the hills all around, on the east side in particular, blackened by a series of wildfires that raced through the dry hillside grass, scorching the scattered oaks. Wineries were jubilant at 2023’s quality, after a slow, steady ripening season with none of the extreme ‘heat spikes’ that often grill exposed grapes here.