Under the Hood: Calistoga Ag Day Finding Its Footing
By Tim Carl
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The Spotlight
Welcome to Under the Hood, our exclusive Saturday series for Napa Valley Features paid subscribers. Today we explore how Calistoga’s inaugural Ag Day quietly rekindled community use of the fairgrounds — spotlighting both the promise and the growing challenges of a civic space finding its footing.
We’re also diving into the latest data from our readers’ polls and providing insights from our economic dashboard, covering local Napa Valley, U.S. and global markets.
In addition, we feature "What We Are Reading," a section with a handpicked list of recent articles that provides a variety of viewpoints on issues important to our community and beyond.
“What We Are Reading” quotes of the day:
"Tasting rooms are shuttering and visitation numbers are down across many states." – from Laura Burgess in "The Struggle to Win Back American Wine Tourists," SevenFifty Daily.
"We probably hit bottom in the third quarter of 2024 for California wine shipments." – from Jon Moramarco in "U.S. Wine: The Only Way Is Up," Wine-Searcher.
"The world of French wine is in the middle of the worst crisis it has faced since phylloxera: a decline in wine consumption and wine-trade profits that leads, inevitably, to despair and the uprooting of a good quarter of the country’s vineyards." – from Michel Bettane in "French wine: A rallying call to end the crisis," The World of Fine Wine.
"We saw brands that were planning U.S.-based marketing and sales in mid-2024 abandon those plans after the November election until the actuality and scale of tariffs would become clear." – from Nonni in "Tariff Chaos Bites for U.S. Importers," Wine-Searcher.
“It’s a closing down of borders, closing of spaces … a moment of deglobalization.” – from Jessica Reinisch, in "Scientific conferences are leaving the U.S. amid border fears," Nature.
"Virtually all of the air-quality standards that we have today are built around evidence from this exposure facility." – from Dan Costa in "Landmark air-pollution lab under threat from Trump cuts — can it be saved?" Nature.
“Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill is a disaster – targeting the most vulnerable among us to give tax breaks to the richest Americans.” – from Doris Matsui, in "Thompson, Matsui, Local Experts Sound the Alarm on Devastating Impacts of Congressional Republicans' Budget Bill," Office of Rep. Mike Thompson.
"AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs — and spike unemployment to 10-20% in the next one to five years." – from Dario Amodei, in "Behind the Curtain: A white-collar bloodbath," Axios.
"The extreme heat that killed Julie was directly linked to fossil fuel-driven alteration of the climate." – from the lawsuit filing in "Wrongful death lawsuit says Big Oil contributed to heat wave and woman's death," Associated Press.
"Republicans’ support has fallen for two consecutive years, totaling 15 points." – from Jeffrey M. Jones in "Record Party Divide on Same-Sex Marriage at 20-Year Ruling Anniversary," Gallup.
Calistoga Ag Day Finding Its Footing
By Tim Carl
CALISTOGA — There was no marquee, no formal welcome banner and no big crowd at the entrance. But for those who wandered into the Calistoga Fairgrounds on a warm Saturday afternoon in late May, a quiet scene unfolded: local wineries pouring on folding tables, kids weaving between a bounce house and a foam machine, and neighbors stopping at booths with food, animals and agricultural displays. Inside, four wine judges sampled entries in a makeshift competition area, surrounded by crop exhibits and aging farm equipment. It wasn’t polished, and it felt raw and rushed — but it a mandatory step toward what the city hopes will become a lasting community tradition.
“Ag Day was created as an agricultural fair to celebrate our local food systems, farming heritage and agricultural education,” said Fairgrounds Revitalization Director Sheli Wright. “We accomplished so much in a very short period of time.”
Young Family Makes a Splash — KALM Cellars
It was during this inaugural Ag Day, organized by the city to meet a state requirement for maintaining the site’s fairground designation, that Calistoga locals Lindsay and Kenny Strauss debuted their small wine label, KALM Cellars. Their launch was quiet — two bottles on a table, poured for neighbors and passersby.
“This is our first vintage, and we only made 200 cases,” said Lindsay, a Calistoga native. “It was always kind of a dream to have our own little label.”