Grape expectations? According to Terry Bates, director of the Cornell Lake Erie Research & Extension, area growers are reporting “average” expectations.

That’s a good thing. “We really worry if either the crop is way too low or way too high … A lot of our research is how to do accurate crop estimates, and if it’s too big, how to bring that down to not hurt the vines,” he said. “Three to four tons per acre is too low. Ten to 12 tons per acre is way too much. We want to be somewhere around seven to nine tons per acre, which is where most growers are right now. In general, what we’re hearing is that it’s a medium size or slightly larger crop this year.”

Our region is grape country and this year, for the most part, the weather has cooperated. There was no spring freeze — or major flooding that the Finger Lakes endured.

We can raise a — wine or juice — glass to that.