Grape harvesting in the Napa Valley has changed a lot since 1960. For us, the 1960s was a period of change in harvesting grapes. We went from hauling individual redwood grape boxes to the winery to hauling the grapes in what were called grape gondolas. Assuming that Napa Valley was not the first to use […]
tankhouse
Posted inYountville
The Loose Cannon: A Napa childhood barn idea—and one unforgettable parade machine
My dad managed the Mt. Eden ranch on the Oakville Crossroad after returning home from WWII. The Mt. Eden ranch is the current location of the Rudd and PlumpJack wine estates. Our house was surrounded by vineyards. When I tell people that, they imagine an idyllic setting in which to grow up. But to me, […]
Posted inYountville
The Loose Cannon: Holding the line on history, the family that kept Yountville’s windmill standing
After I wrote the column about the windmill on Yount Street, I received an email from Lisa Duff Khajavi who lived with her family in Yountville from 1978 (first living on Starkey St.) until she graduated from Justin-Siena High School in 1982 and moved away to attend Pepperdine University. Her folks, James Lee and Lorna […]
Posted inYountville
The Loose Cannon: Relics of the Napa Valley – windmills and tankhouses tell stories
I’m pleased that this relic from the past has survived and is still standing in the 6700 block of Yount Street today: That is a Fairbanks-Morse windmill built to pump water. Originally developed in the 1800s, windmills of this nature were quite common prior to the availability of electricity and gas engines. When the wheel […]