Wine Country grape grower awakens to snow-covered vineyard
NAPA - Like many others around the Bay Area, vineyard operator Mark Neal woke up this morning to a snowy surprise.
Neal has been the owner of Neal Family Vineyards in Napa County for decades, and says he hasn't seen snow like this in a very long time.
"I think the biggest one that still beats this was in like '77, '78, something like that," said Neal.
Mark says he woke up Friday morning to not only find a foot of snow, but two of his goats loose on the property and dozens of his oak trees snapped in half.
"It's pretty much a battleground if you look at it. Some of them are over 200 years old," said Neal.
The conditions were enough to force Mark to have to cancel the tastings scheduled for the day.
The good news is that the grapes will be fine. Neal the vines are dormant right now, so the snow won't hurt. In the long run it might even help.
"This will keep the ground colder a little bit longer and we'll probably have more of that normal bud break which will be in later March," said Neal.
Mark says he's hopeful to get things back up and running for customers by Saturday, making for one very unique tasting trip in the snow.
"It's awesome, I mean if you want to look at that especially if you're coming from the Bay Area or you're traveling close by, some place where you don't get a lot of snow, it's going to be great to come up and see it," said Neal.