As Tracie P and I prepare for our fall trip to Italy, we’re watching harvest reports carefully.

Today, my friends at Berlucchi sent me these photos, snapped on August 8, the day they began picking.

It’s been a summer of prolonged high temperatures and rainfall has been scarce. In appellations where emergency irrigation is not allowed, growers will be facing some tough decisions in coming weeks.

I’m eager to talk to winemakers and to hear their thoughts.

We don’t leave for another few weeks and in the meantime, I’m just glad to be getting back to Austin for some family time after a week of working the California market with Zanotto. :)

So much to tell about my trip to San Francisco, all the cool folks I hung with, and the meals we shared… stay tuned!