Nineteen ninety-nine was certainly one of the finest vintages ever for Contra Costa County. Normally blazingly hot, a cool moderate summer allowed these grapes to hang into the third week of September. Picking them was an experience I hope to never re-live. Not only did the crew not show up, necessitating my friends and me to don picking knives, but we lost a bin at the end of the day as it slid off the back of a trailer, dumping all of its contents. What a day!