The excitement of verasion in the vineyard becomes the high intensity of harvest.

Picking began already in one vineyard in Ventura County! And I was there in the Mitchell vineyard in Saticoy where volunteers were picking chardonnay to go into the Clos des Amis Chambang sparkling wine!! Time to celebrate!

As with all farming, there’s many questions at harvest including:

Will this year’s harvest pan out?

Should vineyards be grafted over to other grapes?

One of the impacts of climate change has been more erratic and intense weather patterns as well as less certainty in rainfall, heat, and freezes.

Will fires in California, Australia, Portugal, and Spain be the new normal?

With Portugal one of the hardest hit by climate change how will their leadership help?

Will Bordeaux add new grapes to the allowed ones on its team roster?

Will the Loire plant more cabernet sauvignon and less franc?

Will northern regions in Europe and America become more viable for more vineyards?

How will what we plant and grow today impact the wines we drink tomorrow?

Unlike the old world, here in the new world we are still throwing grape cuttings in the ground to see what grows best. Like Portugal, Ventura County where I live is showing to be a climate change hot spot with higher temperature here than in other places even in California.

Fortunately, Americans pride themselves on ingenuity — which might mean grafting over new onto old vines or planting new vineyards in new, unproven areas.

photo by Gretel Compton

photo by Gretel Compton

This September, you are invited to join the Wine Pairing Weekend group of wine writers as we celebrate harvest — and consider the challenges faced by agriculture due to climate change.

For your post, you might consider:

• Do you have a favorite harvest food and wine pairing?
• Have you ever been in a vineyard or winery at harvest or can you visit one?
• As September is California Wine Month, do you have a favorite California wine and pairing you’d like to share?
• Can you contact the winery where your wine came from and get a 2020 harvest report?
• Can you ask the winery if they are seeing the impacts of climate change and if that is shaping their decisions today in the vineyard and in the winery?
• What are the agricultural practices the winery is following to mitigate climate catastrophe?

All are welcome to participate. Here’s how:

• You have one month to research and write about a harvest themed wine and food pairing. Kudos for connecting with climate change challenges to vineyards and learning how these are being addressed in any region of the world.
• By 8am Wednesday Sept. 9, comment with your title below, email it to me, or post it in the thread in our #WinePW coordinating facebook group.
• I’ll publish a preview post that will include preliminary links to participants and the twitter chat questions for Sat. Sept. 12. The html and questions will also be posted in the files in our coordinating group on facebook.
• Publish your blog post between Friday Sept. 11 and 8am Sat Sept. 12.
• Include #WinePW in your title.
• Include in your post links to the articles by other participants.
• Update to the final links when the html is available sometime Saturday.
• If your post is sponsored or your wines are samples, please note this so no one gets in trouble with the law!
• Join the twitter chat at 8am Pacific by following the hashtag #WinePW.
• Visit, comment on, and share on social media blog posts by participants.