Living the vineyards during the harvest

Ah, the harvest, what a nice period!
I wish that everybody in the world could have the chance to harvest by hand at least once.. Like old school! Think about being among the vines early in the morning, meeting with the other workers, and surrounded by the sun and a pleasant air, wishing a good day to each other. Then every person chooses a spin and the harvest starts.

A whole day cutting bunches is a great opportunity to think about the important things in life. The grapes are the result of hard work of the grower, have great significance in many cultures of the world and the wine is the basis of the most popular religions.

Harvest thus is almost a rite … full of magic that will accomplish the miracle of the fermentation.

In the old style harvest, the one of our grandparents (and mine too!), all the families used to work together and dine in the estate: for several days everybody was sharing not only the effort, but also happiness and joy for good harvest. Today, some small wineries are trying to carry on this tradition in harmony with nature, even if innovation has changed some rules in this important phase of the birth of the wine.

In the “modern” vintage in fact, the start time is decided by the oenologist. This choice is crucial and now the technicians use appropriate tools of analysis, but in the past, the “old growers” could decide by simply tasting the grapes. Greatly simplifying the explanation, you should know that the grape is harvested when it reaches the right content of three substances: sugar, acidity and aromatic substances. These three elements are essential to the birth of the wine: sugar in fact becomes alcohol through the fermentation, acidity keeps the wine protected from external agents and helps it to age and the aromatic substances give the different scents to the wine.

When picking the grapes must be healthy and must remain whole to avoid contamination. Usually people don’t harvest during the hottest hours of the day (there are wineries  that put the grapes in cold storage before pressing them! And others harvest at night!)  and during the rain so that the grapes get wet.

Slowly the cases containing the bunches of grapes are emptied into the press and the whole process of wine production starts. But we will see it next time.

In these days, the grapes are ready to be picked … Who wants to come and help?

I’ll wait for you!

Cheers,
Paola