Today it is 100°F in Solvang, and we are supposed to get even hotter over the next five days. We have been irrigating furiously, which helps a little and makes us feel better. We’ll know the outcome in 10 days.

Now that we got doused with Holy Water and the grapes blessed by Father John at the great Harvest Party at the winery, we are moving full steam ahead, but harvest is running a little late.

I thought I left the heat behind 50 years ago when I moved from Delano in the San Joaquin Valley to Santa Maria. We are right in the middle of a major heat wave, which can be detrimental to grapes.