Wine Country Corner

Harvest Day in Coombsville

Every wine in the Sciandri cellar begins with a single day. This is what that day looks like.

Sciandri Family Vineyards harvest — Coombsville

The Sciandri property sits at the eastern edge of Coombsville, where the hills begin to rise into the Vacas Range and the cooling influence of San Pablo Bay reaches deepest into the valley. Ron Sciandri planted his first Cabernet Sauvignon vines here in 1999. He was selling fruit then — to some of Napa's most prestigious names, who folded it quietly into wines that earned acclaim without attribution. Ron watched and waited.

In 2006, the family released their first wine under their own label. By then, the vineyard was established. The soils — Hambright-Rock outcrop complex and Coombs gravelly loam, volcanic and well-drained — had shaped the vines over seven years into something that could not be replicated on the valley floor. Small berries. Concentrated flavors. The signature of hillside volcanic fruit.

Ron passed away in 2015. His daughter Rebecca has run the winery since then — she was the only full-time employee when he died, and she remains so today. Her brothers Ron Jr. and Ryan help during harvest. Her sons are learning the land the same way Ron Sr. learned it: by working it before they fully understand why it matters.

Don Baker, who has been making the Sciandri wines since the beginning, keeps one principle: let the fruit show the way. When your vineyard is what the Sciandri vineyard is, that restraint is not passivity — it's confidence.

Three generations of the Sciandri family inspecting harvest bins — Three generations at the bin. Ron Sr. started this. Ron Jr. and Ryan continue it. Rebecca made sure it would outlast all of them.

Worker carrying harvest lugs through vineyard — The first light of harvest morning. The vines have been waiting since spring.

Hands picking grapes through vine canopy — Every cluster by hand. No mechanical harvester reaches the steep hillside blocks where the best fruit grows.

Harvest crew picking along vineyard row — The harvest crew. Where eleven months of farming become the first decision of winemaking.

Founder sorting grapes at harvest — Don Baker at work. His philosophy: let the fruit show the way.

The wines of Coombsville have a signature character the Sciandris call “Coombsville Dirt” — the volcanic mineral, structured tannin, and concentrated fruit that comes from small berries ripened slowly in cool air. Rebecca built her business philosophy around the same values her father carried from South San Francisco to these hillsides: family first, respect for the land, and pride in the product.

The appointment-only tastings at the family home will always feel personal in a way that larger operations cannot manufacture. Coombsville noticed first. The rest of Napa Valley is catching up.