Harvest Approaches

Okanogan Valley, Washington. Pinot grapes ripen in Okanogan Valley during veraison, the transition from berry growth to berry ripening. Danita Delimont/Shutterstock

Here in wine country, where the weather always turns warm or hot about this time of year, everything is in a heightened state of frenzy.

The wine business really is a 365-days-a-year enterprise, and in Napa and Sonoma counties, which represent a tiny fraction of the wine made in all 50 states, the business is extremely stressful because so much money is wrapped up in it.