We can hardly believe it is the middle of November – the whirl of harvest and then traveling to work in the Florida market has us spinning.  While we were in Florida, Napa received several days of rain.  YAY!  See how deep green the grass next to our driveway is now?  It was beaten up brown several weeks ago.  The precipitation measurement here is about 7.5 inches so far this season, a third of all the rain we got last season.  Not bad for mid-November!  Last year, everyone had their hopes pinned on a prediction of our drought being obliterated by a super El Niño bringing rain, but that fizzled out.  Could Mother Nature be sneaking up on us this year?  Everyone in California sure hopes so.

As many of us pause for the feast that traditionally celebrates the fruits of a bountiful harvest, knows that we continue a feasting tradition begun with the birth of agriculture.  Egyptians celebrated the agriculture/fertility god Min, Chinese have Chung Ch’ui, India has many festivals, with Pongal originating as a Dravidian harvest festival mentioned in Sanskrit Puranas, Greeks and Romans both honored their respective goddesses of agriculture, Demeter and Ceres.  Here at BELL, we are always ready to celebrate with a wonderful meal and would remind you that wine has been called the nectar of the gods.  Perhaps this would be a perfect time to raise a glass or even two!

We wish you all the very best as the calendar turns to the end of the year!