Veraision on the Clos des Amis Pinot Noir, South Mountain Vineyard, Santa Paula, CA; photo by Gwendolyn Alley

I’m in Tanzania with The Roof of Africa Adventures  preparing to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, go on safari, visit a coffee plantation, and maybe even stop by a vineyard and tastes some wines. I might even attend the “International Conference on Energy, Aquatech and Sustainability” organized by The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology which is happening in Arusha, where I have been staying, Monday August 12.

I may be on vacation, but back home in southern California, it’s full speed ahead toward harvest as grapes go through VERAISION.

Yep, just like everyone else, summertime is sun time, and sun time means getting some color on your skin!

While June’s vineyard report and vocabulary word was ETIOLATION — and something you DON’T want happening in your vineyard, you DO want verasion because this is the word that signifies that the grapes are turning from GREEN to RED and they are ripening up!

That’s right– all red wines start out looking like green grapes.

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