Visiting Napa/Noma in October

We are returning to the topic of the best time to travel to Napa Valley and Sonoma County, which we consider to be essentially one place called Napa/Noma.  All times of the year are good times, but each month presents its own enticements and occasional challenges.  Previously we have discussed January and April.

As East Coasters and Québécois, we see one of the advantages of autumn to be the extraordinary coloration of the foliage that we are treated to each October.  Until we first visited California Wine Country, it had never occurred to us that the vineyards come alive with color each year as well.  I guess we never took the Turning Leaf brand from Gallo all that seriously.

This photo was taken on St. Helena’s Pritchard Hill, looking towards Lake Hennessy

If you go in the first part of the month, especially the first week, you’ll have the chance to see the last days of the harvest.  As global climate change takes hold, the beginning of the crush is coming earlier and earlier.  It used to start in mid-August but now July harvests of some white grapes is not unheard of.  In October, most of the grapes are in the process of becoming wine, so you’ll have less chance to see them hanging on the vines.  What will be there will be red grapes in the higher elevations and those that are destined to be late harvest dessert wines.  October is, after all, late for a harvest.

All of this is made up by the glorious display of colors in the vineyards.  We’d like to say that the red leaves are Cabernet Sauvignon leaves and the yellow ones are Chardonnay, but that just isn’t so.  As with oak trees and maples, different leaves have their own pigmentation that is overwhelmed by chlorophyll during the spring and summer.  As the chlorophyll fades in fall, these colors come out.  The predominant hues are a golden yellow and orange.  In time, as they dry they become a light brown.  There always seem to be some green leaves that hang on, so it’s quite a palette.

The red leaves you see in the photos accompanying this article are a special case.  As tourists, we love to see them.  Vineyard managers and wine makers aren’t very happy though.  Red leaves are a sign of leaf roll, a virus carried by bugs that live in vineyard soil.  It seems to be an increasing problem, according to some industry publications.  So temper your pleasure at seeing fields of blazing red, as it’s an indication that there may be problems down the road for some of your favorite wines.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

When you visit wineries in October, and taste at their bars, the staff you encounter would have a right to be a little tetchy.  Harvest season is full of stress in the wine business.  We’re glad to report that we have never encountered anything like that, but we also haven’t seen too many wine makers at that time, either.  One time, however, a wine maker handed us a stick and asked us break the cap on a vat of bubbling grapes, so be prepared!

Since autumn is the harvest season for fruits and vegetables other than grapes, you’ll have the chance for something special in the Napa/Noma restaurants that feature local produce.  Mustards  in Yountville and Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg fall into this category of restaurant, and there are many others.

Days are still warm, although you may want a sweater in the morning and in the evening.  You won’t usually encounter the blazing heat of Napa/Noma’s summers but again with climate change, you can never tell for sure.

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