the fall

Spent the morning running around. Started with a 9 a.m. tasting for some Canadian writers, who were so friendly. I had met one of them before about a year ago when he tasted at Clos Du Val, and he actually remembered me and went out of his way to ask how things were going and catch up with me. This almost never happens. I feel like most writers are so focused on the wines and the work that there's little time for personal conversation. Also, most writers really don't care very much about the PR person. And rightly so, since the PR person really should be behind-the-scenes, not the center of attention when it comes to these tastings. After all, the PR person is not the winemaker. Well, at least, not usually.

Anyway, then it was off to Solage for a Napa Valley Vintners meeting. What a drive -- I took the Silverado Trail the whole way and it was grey and rainy and cold. Yet so unbelievably beautiful. For me, October and November are the best months in Napa. All the leaves on the vines are changing colors -- and there really is so much color! Reds and golds and oranges. And the way the mist looks when it comes up over the hills -- it's like scenery for a movie. (I wish I were a better photographer.)

Sometimes, I forget how beautiful the valley really is. But fall always reminds me. And then I remember the day I interviewed for this job: Driving through the gate to the winery and seeing the vines and the ivy-covered building and the hills rising up behind it and thinking, Yes. Here.