Autumn in Wine Country

September, October, and early November are a prime time for visiting the California Wine Country. Here's why:

Dry Creek Valley in early November

The weather has cooled down. In the Sonoma/Napa region, high temperatures average in the low 80s in Sept. and upper 70s in Oct. with evenings getting chilly. Sept. averages one day of rain for the month, three days in Oct.

This is the grape harvest season and there is activity everywhere. Trucks with bins full of grapes on the roads, pickers in the vineyards before you get up in the morning, noise and commotion in the wine cellars from early morning into the night. The smell of harvest is in the air.

There are harvest parties at various wineries, harvest celebrations with wine tastings, like the Sonoma County Harvest Fair, and multiple winery events such as northern Sonoma County's Wine and Food Affair in early Nov.

Late in the fall the leaves on the grape vines turn color before falling off leaving bare vines. Peak color season is about Nov. 1st.

Sonoma County Harvest Fair