It was a hazy Sunday afternoon, and the cool weather has finally started. For me that means the leftover grapes in the fields are getting close to my preferred temperature.

I like them cool, as if they had been refrigerated. Warm grapes don’t appeal to me. So I was pleased that, for whatever reason, there are still some left on the vines on the hillside outside Sulzburg.

What I can’t figure out is why these weren’t harvested. As far as I know, all the grapes around here are grown for wine production.  That harvest is past. Ice wine isn’t a big thing here – I think it doesn’t get cold enough.

Some of the grapes are shriveling on the vines and look as if they are well on their way to becoming raisins. I thought that might be why they were left, but my wife tells me they don’t make raisins by letting them dry where they are. That made sense – I should have known that.

So it’s a minor mystery, not one I will lose any sleep over. I enjoyed the walk, which I think may have been my first one since April in which I didn’t wear shorts.

It was a hazy day, but I still thought these pictures worth sharing.