(NewsObserver) - It’s a good thing October comes right after September in North Carolina, otherwise we might just forget what makes this place so livable.

September anywhere east of the foothills in North Carolina is the most torturous of months, with all the heat, humidity and bugs of summer and none of the love. It’s all back-to-school, back-to-business. After those 30 days, we deserve the little slice of paradise that is October.

Two of my favorite reasons to love October are leaf-peeping and the State Fair, and since I’m not headed to the mountains this fall, I’ll just have to envy those who are. Apparently it’s going to be a busy season, if you trust the predictions of a Western Carolina University tourism study. Lots of folks want to make up for what they missed last year when a federal government shut-down closed national parks – including visitors centers on the Blue Ridge Parkway – for about half of October and put a damper on mountain tourism traffic.

Vineyards and tasting rooms see a small but growing segment of the state’s tourism market, and for many, fall is when they get a close-up look at the state’s wine scene.

Among the surprises awaiting wine fans who make it far enough west is a new American Viticultural Area – the Upper Hiwassee Highlands. Don’t expect to see road signs welcoming you to the AVA, but if you stop in one of the 26 vineyards therein, you’ll find excited winemakers talking about the change, including Eric Carlson, owner of Calaboose Cellars in Andrews, who headed up the AVA application.

An AVA designation literally puts a wine region on the map, and bolsters the legitimacy of its product. The federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau created the new AVA this summer. It covers 690 square miles in Cherokee and Clay counties in North Carolina and three counties in Georgia. Upper Hiwassee is North Carolina’s fourth viticultural area and the 214th nationwide. It is Georgia’s first.