In autumn, Riquewihr is still in the middle of the harvest season. The last bunches, full of sun and sugar, are sometimes collected until mid-November. The temperature and mild climate of the region is favorable to those late harvests. Most of the half-timbered houses in Riquewihr's old town are still home to descendants of winegrowers. The bunches of grapes arrive in the interior courtyards where the family press still stands. There, the air is loaded with sugar and alcohol.