October 7, 2014 – Fall color will arrive early this year

Today I spent the day in Napa Valley.  Everything I have been reading in the vintners’ blog posts says this is an early harvest season, with great quality in the grapes.  And from what I have seen, the fall color will likely arrive similarly early.  In late vintages, the fall color will peak around the week of Thanksgiving, which suggests that the usual peak arrives around November 10^th.  If the harvest is two weeks early, then I think it would be fair to guess that the autumn color peak will come two weeks earlier as well.  Today’s trip supports that theory as a number of fields have already begun to develop a golden cast to their foliage.  I noticed this driving in along the newly widened Highway 29 through American Canyon all the way up to northern Saint Helena.  Of course, if I can enjoy beautiful fall colors with today’s excellent weather, then I must be in paradise (or very close to it).

The 2014 fall color arrives early; seen from Saint Clement Vineyards