9.2 Harvesting Options Flashcards
In the olden days, how was harvesting done?
- By hand
- Only option
For what types of wines is machine-harvesting typically used?
- Inexpensive to mid-priced wine
- Larger scale production wine
What steps can be taken to improve the quality of machine-harvested wine?
- Selecting out undesirable fruit by hand before harvesting by machine
- Using a bow-rod shaking machine (rather than the older machines, which beat vines to remove the fruit)
- Investing in the very latest machines that have options for optical sorting devices on them and which can crush white grapes and add SO2 in the machine itself
- Rigorous sorting on arrival in the winery (removal of MOG, unripe, and rotten grapes)
What are 5 main advantages of machine-harvesting?
- Significantly faster in large vineyards (if vineyards planted accordingly)
- Substantially cheaper in large vineyards (if vineyards planted accordingly)
- Avoids issues of the lack of availability/unreliability of workers
- Grapes can be harvested at night and be kept up to 15°C / 59°F cooler
- The timing of the harvest can wait until the desired level of ripeness has been achieved and then carried out quickly
Why is harvesting at night beneficial?
- Can reduce microbial spoilage and oxidation
- For white, fruity wines, starting the winemaking with cool fruit preserves the intensity of fruit aromas.
- Saves costs on refrigeration
Studies conducted in California have shown which is cheaper: machine or hand-harvesting? By how much?
Machine-harvesting can be one-third of the price of hand-harvesting.
What are 6 main disadvantages of machine-harvesting?
- Less gentle than hand-harvesting.
- Not economic or practical for small-scale vineyards (machines are costly, major investment)
- Unsuitable when there are different varieties ripening at different times in the same plot
- Can’t be used on steep slopes
- The quality of the work is only as good as the skills of the operator.
- Where an estate does not own its own harvester, there may be competition for the rental of the machine at the best moment for harvest.
What does machine-harvesting entail?
- Grapes shaken off the stems (potentially leading to rupture of the grape skin and some release of juice), rather than keeping the bunches intact.
For what types of wines is hand-harvesting typically used?
Premium wines
What does hand-harvesting entail?
Teams of harvesters removing the whole grape bunches from the vines by cutting the stem of each bunch with secateurs
What are 3 main advantages of hand-harvesting?
- Can be highly selective at a bunch-by-bunch level; remove any diseased, under- or extra-ripe fruit at the point of harvest.
- Can deal with steeper slopes, irregular rows and mixed plantings in the same vineyard.
- If handled with care and put in small, stackable crates (with a maximum weight of 10–15 kilos), the crushing of grapes and the release of juice, which would then be prone to oxidization and to microbial spoilage, can be avoided.
What are 3 main disadvantages of hand-harvesting?
- More expensive than machine-harvesting in medium to large vineyards
- Requires the availability of a reliable work force and their training and supervision
- Must happen during daylight hours; high temperatures might be unvoidable
Why might a premium wine producer switch to machine-harvesting?
- Rising labour costs
- Scarcity of labour
- Other advantages of machine-harvesting (night time, quicker)
Give an example of when a high volume wine producer might use hand-harvesting.
Cooperatives in France or Italy receive fruit from small-scale grape growers and then use the fruit for large batches of wine.
Name 5 scenarios when hand-harvesting is required. Give examples of each.
- When whole bunches are needed
- Premium sparkling wines (Champagne and most bottle-fermented sparkling wine around the world)
- Beaujolais (carbonic or semi-carbonic maceration) - When selective grapes are needed
- Pickers may be instructed to harvest only botrytis-affected bunches (e.g. for Trockenbeerenauslese Riesling in the Mosel). - On steep slopes
- Douro Valley - On uneven land
- When there is no trellis
- Bush vines
