I recently spent some time in a south Willamette Valley vineyard clipping beautiful clusters of Pinot Gris grapes. It was on a day that we had our first rainfall of the season, and about thirty people showed up in hats, boots and raincoats to harvest some three tons of luscious, juicy, sweet Pinot Gris. After all the grapes were loaded onto a truck to be transported to a nearby winery, we celebrated the 2012 harvest with a pig roast, wine and beer.

On my way home, I stopped in at one of my favorite local wineries, Domaine Meriwether - home to ...