Gearing up to Harvest

Harvest time is the busiest, most exciting and interesting time of the year, the culmination of the whole growing season, where plans and ideas are discussed and decisions made hour by hour. Obviously, the weather is the deciding factor for when varieties are picked and ultimately influence what wines we make.

In the lead up to the first pick, the winery tanks, barrels, presses and all harvest equipment are sanitised ready for the first fruit to arrive. We have the addition of a new press this year which can press more whole bunched fruit (like Pinot Noir) at a time, but more gently on a longer cycle, this gives us more options for top quality sparkling wine production, which is exciting.

During harvest time, we carry out day by day maturity sampling in the lab to see the sugars increase and acidity drop - once levels are within the target parameters they will be picked. This year has varying bunch sizes across all three sites and varieties, some with decent yields and some low. The benefit of a lower yielding year like this one is that there is great potential for excellent concentrated flavour. When we have mixed weather systems like we do at the moment it’s also very important to not only determine when to pick from acidity and sugar analysis but, more importantly, by trying the grape juice and making decisions based on the development of the flavours, aromatic compounds, and in some cases colour.