GO BEYOND FOUR SEASONS

EARLY

Niagara & Concord Grapes
Grown by Ray in Germantown, New York

The time is now for Ray's Concord and Niagara Grapes — two classic varieties from his Germantown vines. Concord grapes bring deep purple skins and bold, nostalgic flavors, while Niagara grapes — a pale green grape — are lighter, more floral, and gently sweet. After a summer marked by crop loss, Ray tells us this year's seeded grape harvest is "strong and clean."

Ray waits until his grapes reach full maturity before picking. As he puts it: "You'll start to see Concord grapes around late August; they look ready, but they aren't ready. Color isn't an indicator of ripeness with Concords. If you're driving home and you can't smell them in the backseat of your car, they aren't ready."

Concord and Niagara grapes continue to ripen well into fall, their sugars peaking just before the first hard frost. Their thick skins protect against cold and splitting, while the natural powdery bloom shields them from rain. Ray harvests only to order, hand-selecting each bunch for consistency and quality. Until frost, the grapes store perfectly on the vine, sugars climbing higher with every cool night.

Ray grows with minimal intervention. As native varieties, Concord and Niagara are naturally adapted to the region, their thick-skinned clusters warding off rain and fungus. His vines are more than a century old, with deep root systems so established they require no fertilizer.

Decades ago, when demand for Concord grapes collapsed, most growers tore out their vines. Ray refused. Today, his persistence pays off: those same old vines yield fruit that is sweeter and more complex than ever, and he continues to expand his vineyard with new varieties.

LATE

Zerbinati Melons
Grown by Oscar in Mantua, Italy

We're into the final weeks of Oscar's Honey Moon and Sun Sweet Melons. As autumn gradually takes hold, the last harvests are now coming off the vines. Warm days and cooler nights have carried their flavor right through to the end of the season, keeping the fruit sweet and fragrant — these final melons are some of the best we've tried this season.

Every summer, the industry hotly anticipates Oscar's Sun Sweet and Honeymoon Melons – a grower we've been working with since 2015 and whose name is synonymous with quality.

Slow growth, combined with considered cultivation methods – from thinning plants, to raising beds and even protecting them with sunscreen during the hottest time of the year – makes for some of the most exceptional produce we source. These melons have firm yet buttery flesh saturated with undiluted juice.