Weather Plays Games with the 2010 Harvest

This year’s strange weather is playing some real mind games on
vintners as they begin the 2010 harvest. Here in the Eastern U.S.,
harvest is earlier than ever after an exceptionally hot and dry weather
helped ripen grapes – or at least spike sugar levels – faster than
anyone could have imagined. Out West, a cooler-than-usual summer has
delayed harvest, raising fears that the autumn rains will begin before
the grapes are off the vine.

Here is my early harvest update in Wednesday’s Washington Post along with my monthly list of Recession Buster recommendations. This month features some boxed wines, perfect for your end-of-summer cookouts.

Now,
we have Hurricane Earl, a Category 4 storm, bearing down on the East
Coast. If forecasts hold, it should not have a great effect on Virginia
or Maryland, but it could deliver a lot of wind and rain to Long Island
at an inopportune time. Stay tuned ….