Thirteen years ago I made my first post at this blog. It was called August Days. Saying how easy and lazy the month of August can be for vineyard owners.

If only things stayed the same….

I have been extensively tracking my vineyard and orchard data, including plant growth and weather, over these past 13 years. And pretty much each year there has been variation, as is expected. But more and more variation has been happening in recent years. What has become disturbingly more predictable, however, is a slow walk to warmer weather, less rain, and earlier tree and vine budding, fruit maturation and harvests. And this year, for the first time for me in the two decades we have had this vineyard, my entire grape harvest, for 4 different grape varieties, has all been started and completed in August.

Gone are the lazy August days.

Maybe I can best summarize by slighting altering an old saying. It now seems, the more things change, the more things will be changing…