I both love and dread this time of year. For months I've been holding my breath waiting for something, not knowing exactly what it was. It was rain. For some reason I'm comforted by it. In a way the rain is a relief. All of those outside chores that are on my list are impossible now--the side of the house that I was going to paint, the yard work I was going to get done. It will just have to wait.In the midst of middle age I find myself enjoying fall more and more. It is so beautiful. Rain and overcast weather creates better color saturation, so every color is deeper and more beautiful. The picture above was taken at Maysara Winery's Momtazi Vineyard. I love the way the solitary oak stands in contrast to the now distressed leaves of the grape vines. Soon the vines will give up the fight all together and let go of those leaves. The leaves will return to the earth, and give life to another season of grapes. That is the way of life. And speaking of life, happy birthday to Tahmiene Momtazi the wine maker at Maysara. The Momtazi family is so welcoming, and I has been talking to Tahmiene for quite a while before her mother told me it was her birthday. It must be hard to have this celebration always fall in the middle of a hectic harvest. Not much time to celebrate. The winery is a blur of activity. In the photo to the below, Tahmiene is filling up the barrels with newly fermented wine. I asked her what she thought of this harvest. They were fortunate to have their harvest in on Saturday before it started to rain. "This vintage is going to be more Burgundian" she told me. She explained that this meant a little less body than '08, but beautiful complexity and bouquet.
On that note, I've been pleasantly surprised by the '07's that I have in my cellar. They are opening up beautifully. Especially Tahmiene's 3 Degrees and Jamsheed Pinot Noirs, along with St Innocent's Winemaker's Cuvee. That's a limited list, but go out and give them a second taste. They are proving to be some of my favorites. At her talk at the Linfield Library last Thursday, Susan Sokol-Blosser shared that this year is closer to what they typically experienced when they began making wines at their winery in the early 1970's. She estimated that the harvest has moved forward by almost three weeks since they began growing grapes in the Willamette Valley. She thinks that could be local evidence of global warming. Other long time farmers have shared with me that this cooler weather is typically followed up by a longer, more moderate fall season. We've had that in spades. Those sunny, upper 60's fall days are my absolute favorite. The colors begin to chance, the morning air has a crisp edge to it, and you know your time to get things done outside is coming to and end. That is the gift of fall. So, go find one of those wonderful '07's light up the fire and grab a good book to read. Rain has it's blessings.