"The first rains of the winter moved in this morning. We’re set for a little rain today, and apparently a lot tomorrow. It’s an arctic storm which means that it will be cold and will move through quickly. During the harvest this is the best type of storm if you’ve going to have one. The alternative is tropical moisture which with its combination of rain and warm still air can cause common rot to quickly destroy your fruit.
Not all rain during harvest is harmless, and several vintages I have made were diminished by rain, but by and large it is benign. I recall my very first harvest in 1979 at Acacia when a storm moved in like this year towards the end of picking. I was very concerned, but Mike Richmond my mentor and boss at that time said, "Don’t worry, it always rains during harvest." Good advice in general about attitude towards weather if you’re going to be at all happy as a farmer. Our second harvest together we were receiving the very last fruit of the season and as we were loading it into the press the first rain of the season began falling. It felt both fated and magical. My fondest memory of harvest rain was in the late 80′s. I don’t recall the exact vintage but I suspect it was ’87 or ’88 as my son who was born in ’83 was 4 or 5 at the time. We were driving to Lee Hudson’s always anticipated harvest party. The fruit had been in for a week or so. Rain began falling heavily as we drove up. The party, always held outside, continued despite the rain. Everybody danced in the mud and got soaked. As the evening wore on, and the rain intensified, the adults retreated under the shelter of the barns while the children like little savages continued to dance around the bonfire until we took them home and to bed."
- Larry Brooks, Winemaker
