In wine growing countries the fall is a time of great excitement as the grapes approach the time for harvesting. Each bunch of grapes swells with juice produced from the long summer days of sunshine and rain.
The vineyard owner watches the grapes carefully to be ready for that time of optimal ripeness. Everything waits its appointed time, especially the harvest. You do not want to pick too soon and lose one scintilla of flavor or depth and you don’t want to pick too late and find you have lost some of your perfect grapes.
And like most things, the whole issue of ripeness has its exceptions too. Some grapes are intentionally left on the vine to await the first freeze. Those wines are called ice wines and are sweet and concentrated in flavor as the water in the grape has been lost to the freeze leaving only the delicious pulp. In France some desert wines are allowed to partially suffer what they call the “noble rot,” which makes the grapes shrivel and concentrate inside. Sauterne is one such wine.
Keep an open mind about expectations and judging. Even if a thing or situation or person is not perfect, it or he may very well turn out to be perfect in a completely different delightful and unexpected way.
Photo by guest blogger Sue Harrison, location Dordogne region of France.