Mother Nature is signaling a season change, however subtle it may be.

It is darker now at 6 AM, when Agnieszka opens the vineyard gate to start the day’s work, and the air is cooler and mist lingers over the vine rows.  And the angles of morning light betray the secret of autumn’s approach, as seen this morning while looking east toward the vineyard.

Near Dawn Outside the Wine Barn

The fruit is now quickly ripening, as veraison – when grapes become translucent and change to their final colors – is well underway.  As usual, a few Saint Laurent clusters are in the lead.

Saint Laurent Grapes

And with an early harvest expected, we hasten to erect aerial defenses against squadrons of marauding birds, who have already begun their assault.  Netting will soon enshroud the vine rows, making the hillside look like a Christo and Jeanne-Claude exhibit.  Thank goodness deer don’t fly.

It is said that August makes the vintage, and I suspect that is because there is little the winegrower can do but worry or pray.  Since I tend to do too much of the former and not enough of the latter, I must turn my thoughts toward the future.