Join us for this webinar which will dive into Napa Valley’s harvest and how decisions made now will impact this year’s vintage.
Event details
Webinar
By mid-September, Harvest 2023 will be underway, and the grapes will be making their way – a little more slowly than normal this year – from vineyards to tanks. We will talk to three winemakers as they discuss this year’s growing conditions and their decision-making process as their teams’ harvest, ferment and age what is setting up to be another incredible vintage.
In this webinar, we’ll connect Napa Valley’s soils and climate to its characteristic wine style at a WSET Level 3 Award in Wines and Level 4 Diploma in Wines level. We’ll also discuss Napa Valley’s commitment to quality and innovation and the long-term effects of climate change and sustainability efforts. We invite you to pre-submit any questions if you have specific topics that you’d like the winemakers to address, you can do this here.
Speakers
Catherine Bugue DipWSET, Vice President of Education, Napa Valley Wine Academy
Catherine is co-owner and Vice President of Education at the Napa Valley Wine Academy, overseeing WSET course delivery, instructors, and the creation of new courses. Catherine earned her Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Diploma in 2010 and numerous other post-nominals and instructs advanced-level courses such as the WSET Level 3 and Diploma units. Loving to write as much as teaching, Catherine sits on the Napa Valley Vintners and St Helena Star Tasting Panel and is a wine columnist for the Napa Valley Register. Catherine previously managed international wine accounts for Balzac Communications & Marketing, where she promoted the region and wines of Navarra, Rueda, Collio, Franciacorta, Chianti Classico, and more. She lives with her husband, François, in Napa Valley, where he is in wine production.
Michael Scholz, Vice President Winemaking and Vineyards, St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery
Michael Scholz is a sixth-generation winemaker from Australia’s famed Barossa Valley. His storied career began on his family’s estate, the Willows Vineyard, in the 1980s. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Oenology in 1985 at Roseworthy, Australia’s first agricultural college (now part of the University of Adelaide), and traveled the world honing his craft in France, South Africa and the United States.
He has spent over a decade at St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery challenging himself year after year to express the full potential of the vineyards’ worth of exquisite estate fruit. Scholz firmly believes that great wine begins in the vineyard, so when he first arrived at St. Supéry in 1996, he worked closely with the vineyard manager on an extensive replanting project to unite blocks with their ideal varietals, focusing on the classics of Bordeaux. Thanks to his vision, a signature style developed that has captured the imagination of wine lovers around the world. The Sauvignon Blanc has become a California benchmark, and in 1998, Scholz created the gracious Bordeaux inspired blend, Élu, with renowned wine consultant Michel Rolland. Of his friend and colleague, Rolland says, “Michael Scholz is on my list of great winemakers from around the world.”
Lindsey Wallingford, Winemaker and Vineyard Manager, Saint Helena Winery
As both Vineyard Manager and Winemaker, Lindsey Wallingford embodies the belief that the best wines are made in the vineyard. In this dual role, Lindsey works alongside the winery’s in-house vineyard team, guiding the farming of the estate’s 14 individual blocks. In the winery, she applies her talents to single clone fermentations each harvest, to ultimately create three different Cabernet Sauvignons from the property and to ensure that each wine reflects the Estate and the age-worthy style of Saint Helena Winery.
Lindsey began her career studying and working in vineyards of Washington State before she could even legally drink. She laughs when she thinks about the times her supervisors would help her purchase bottles of wine so she could become familiar with the effects of “terroir”. Since then, Lindsey has worked in the wine regions of Australia, New Zealand, Oregon, and across California. Before joining the team in 2018, Lindsey worked for Napa Valley’s Screaming Eagle and Bryant Family Vineyard. Lindsey is dedicated to the land, and bringing out the best of the property. Through organic farming practices, minimizing tillage, and introducing honey bees, Lindsey and Saint Helena Winery are continuously striving to leave the land better than it was found.
This event does not necessarily constitute official WSET course material and should not be used as such.