Napa – small scale, big change

Stewart Ranch, Napa Valley

A micro future for Napa Valley could make quite a change to its character, especially for local farmers, and tourists.

For more than 80 years, the journey up Highway 29 into Napa Valley has begun with the same view. To this day, as motorists make the turn off of Highway 12 from Sonoma or sweep across the Napa River and head north into the valley, the first sights they encounter are a set of green fields dotted with cows grazing placidly in front of an old white barn.

This pastoral scene, in the Carneros section of Napa Valley, provides an...