After graduating early with my bachelor’s degree — top of my class — I was elated to land my first role in Napa Valley. The 2005 Harvest was my first: 97 days straight before I knew anything about California labor laws. I was just happy to be there. 

 

Times change. Oldest story in the book. 

The real story is how we change with time.

 

Today, harvest in Napa Valley feels different. The wine industry is shifting — that’s what the seasons promise: change. Change can make people nervous, but at La Saison we see it as planting seeds for something more sustainable. Seeds of shared strength — because two are always stronger than one.

 

At La Saison, there’s a quote in the shop that reads: “The conductor of an orchestra doesn’t make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make other people powerful.”

 

Like musicians in an orchestra, each person’s role is distinct, yet every note contributes to the harmony. I don’t see myself as a manager but as a leader among leaders. Each of us carries our own part. Success is never handed down — it’s a choice we make daily: to listen, to support, and to do not just what is told, but what is needed before it’s ever asked.

 

Beginning tomorrow, we’ll launch our Harvest Lunch Series through October. Think Hearty, Healthy, Happy Harvesters. Complimentary delivery throughout Napa Valley. Click here to place your order!

 

I recently returned from Salmon, Idaho, after joining our winery friends at Chappellet. How long has it been since your heart sank, soared, and sang — all in a single second? We boarded what looked like an eight-seat fighter jet with our 6’5” pilot, Nick — no older than 22 — at the helm. He whisked us from the streets of Boise into six days of whitewater rafting on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

 

Before I left, Sweet Smith cried: “I don’t want you to die — rivers are dangerous.” My heart sank as we took off, wondering if he meant the river… or this rickety ride over the Rockies. The tail swayed like a salmon in the air. My chest pounded. It was too loud to speak, so I sat with the quiet, knowing my life was about to shift.

 

The truth is, rivers are dangerous — just as time, and work, can be when we push against their natural flow. I think back to that first harvest — 97 days straight. We did it because ‘it was our job’. But sustainability isn’t about whether we can go that long; it’s about pausing to ask whether we should.

 

Like rivers, work without balance can sweep us away.

No one at La Saison will work 97 days straight this year, but if the moment called for it, I know my team would. And that’s the difference — not having to, but knowing we could if we had to.

 

The view from thirty thousand feet over Idaho was God’s Country — or better said, Native Land. Jagged peaks, steep valleys, vast beyond comprehension. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel brave — and grateful — that I’d skipped lunch before takeoff. Up there, the world became a canvas: raw colors, rich textures, brushstrokes from a time before life became automated. My naivety, I realize, has been one of my greatest gifts — allowing me to leap, to say yes, to lead without a map.

 

It’s how I’ve led La Saison these past 18 years. The seasons ahead, though, will call for a different kind of strategizing- the kind rooted in planting seeds for new rootstock to take root and be the sustainable shift our industry seeks.

 

And then there’s Bob, the River Cat. Carried away by rafters who thought he was “lost,” taken miles from home, only to find his way back weeks later. His neighbors made shirts that read: “Be like Bob… Follow the river home.”

Maybe that’s the reminder we all need: when the current feels too strong, the way forward is often the one that carries us back to center. The caveat, of course, is knowing what your center truly is.

 

In many ways, it comes down to connection with ourselves. That’s where we find the greatest freedom — and the truest relationships. When we’re clear on who we are, we can fully receive who another is. The more confident we become, the more we tend to align with others from the same suit — and together, we strengthen the deck. That’s the goal, after all: to keep growing stronger, together.

 

 

I remain in awe of the team I get to work with. We may not call ourselves “the best,” but what we’ve built — and what we continue to begin together — is truly great.

 

And today, we’re all off for Labor Day. How’s that for planting sustainable seeds, and sustaining the currents that are surely ahead?

 

Cheers to another season, Harvest '25!