Harvest is in full swing, and there are a lot of grapes out there! Not nearly as many as in the GINORMOUS crop of 2005, but the biggest year since then. Quality is outstanding, as the summer was realitively mild, allowing for good flavor development, and now the heat is turning up, bringing the sugars up up up. BUT, there are a lot of grapes out on the vines, and with the economy in the state it is still in, many growers are still looking for homes for fruit. Some wineries, big and small, custom crush et al, are offering to crush and ferment the fruit now, for a large percentage of the wine later (I've heard of one place that will crush, ferment and store for 10 months, in exchange for HALF the wine next year). Even in this down market, if wineries can reduce the cost of goods (in this case fruit), it can mean a huge upside for the consumer, since the wineries can then offer up some of the great 2009 vintage for much less than normal, and if that gets more people enjoying wine, so they buy more in the long term, then everybody wins. Fortuneately, with prices on earlier vintages dropping (because of the market), we don't have to wait unti later to enjoy some fine wine! more on some of the wines I'm enjoying later.....