The Space Between Delight and Grim

It's that time of year—harvest foreshadowing the grim damp—with help from Trisaetum

In the short but spectacular space between grim and delight.

This is how I think of the current moment from the perspective of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The spectacularly moderate and comfortable summer is at an end, and on the short horizon looms the grim winter months of grey, drizzle, and chill. But I’ve come to love this moment here in Oregon when the harvest of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay surges, the sun squeezes out shorter and cooler bursts of joy, and the wardrobe begins to shift from T-shirts to pullovers.

The transition and action are spectacular.

It’s when our leaves begin turning. My garden begins to retreat into the “wilting stage”. The sun becomes shyer every day. It’s not bitterness, but it is the same kind of foreshadowing that results from the baseball season coming to an end.

This short space lasts until about Halloween, when the relentless grey can abruptly pull up, take residence, and begin its smothering sabbatical here in the Northwest. While I’m not claiming that we are gearing up for a Buffalo-like winter, I can confirm that the difference between here and my former Napa home is wide.

I note all this because something else comes with the Transition. Something that impacts my work here at Fermentation. My disposition begins to morph into something more ornery; more suspicious. It’s a slow slide. It doesn’t end in anything like despair or a desperate reach for therapy lamps. It’s a slow transition.

I’ve looked back at my past writing during these months when the sun moves lower in the sky, and there are frequent reports on the progress of the grape harvest. I noticed more articles that contain warnings. More posts that amount to head-shaking. A greater frequency of finger-pointing. So, yes, this might be a warning of sorts.

To combat this slide, I am reprinting here a report from James Frey, winemaker at Trisaetum, located in the Ribbon Ridge sub-AVA of the Willamette Valley and a perennially celebrated winery. Note the reserved tone that moves between optimistic and suspicious:

At Trisaetum, the still wine harvest began on September 12th with the first picks of Pinot Noir from the Ribbon Ridge Estate, as well as from the Coast Range and Wichmann Dundee vineyards. As with the sparkling grapes, the Pinot Noir fruit is showing excellent flavor development as hang-time in the vineyard has surpassed 100 days. With plenty of dry, pleasant days in the forecast, expectations are for significant picking to occur over the next 7 to 10 days throughout the Willamette Valley.

At this point, we’ll continue harvesting Pinot Noir and Chardonnay until all of our fermentation vats are full. The native yeast populations seem to be quite diverse and very robust as our early ferments are really beautiful. There’s still a long way to go and Mother Nature could still throw us some curveballs, but it’s been a positive beginning to the 2025 harvest.”

(ON THE VINE AT TRISAETUM)

Now see, that doesn’t sound so bad, despite the pending arrival of dampness. It’s a spectacular space to be in.

In the end, what I feel right now, at this moment when the summer ends and the winter is closer than I want, is both tension and appreciation. I am honestly hopeful about the harvest. I’m grateful for the months of baseball that I’ve enjoyed. I have vivid memories of the perfect summer climate. I can still see the wilting fruits of my labors in my garden. But I look the other way, and I see the grimness is not far away.