Baron Herzog
2002 Edna Valley Special
Reserve Syrah, about $25
(Herzog Winery, Oxnard, Calif.)
October is the cruelest month for those of us who love our fresh vegetables. We’re lucky here that we can still grow things, but Colorado is a tease: It can be 70 degrees one day and 25 the next, effectively taking the last of the tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and tender greens.
So why wait for Thanksgiving to celebrate the harvest? I vote for celebrating now, with Sukkot on Monday. Sukkot is a Jewish harvest festival, an eight-day period that follows the fasting of Yom Kippur.
Traditionally, Jews celebrate the holiday by building a small hut called a sukkah and gathering in them for feasts created from the harvest. You could probably forgo the hut (at least if you’re a shiksa like me), but do reap the last of the Colorado harvest, and set out a spread for lots of friends. Wine, of course, is de rigueur, to remind us that winemakers throughout the Northern Hemisphere are bringing in their grapes right now. You could try Herzog’s Edna Valley Syrah, a rich, satiny red with so much fresh, spicy plumlike fruit that no one will even think to ask if it’s kosher (it is) unless they need it to be.
-Tara Q. Thomas
