Assessing Grape Maturity

Picking the grapes at the right time is critical. Timing depends on the maturity of the grapes, the outlook for inclement weather and the availability of a picking crew. The most critical aspect is grape maturity assessment and takes weeks.

Ideally, all grapes reach the same final level of maturity at the same time. In reality, they do not. Proper pruning and canopy management can narrow the time window of final maturity so we can harvest all grape bunches at the same time. We sample the grapes in the vineyard every week and test them – when the average reaches specific characteristics we pick. There are four aspects to consider in getting to the picking decision:

1. Weather and soil humidity: how much sunshine have the grapes received over the growing season and how much water was added through irrigation to fine-tune the grapes’ condition during the last 4-5 weeks?
2. Sampling: How do we sample the grapes to be analyzed, so the sample represents the range of maturity in the entire vineyard?.
3. Chemical Analysis: what chemical measurements do we take to decide whether the grapes have reached maturity and how will the results affect our winemaking process?
4. Taste Analysis: how can we consistently evaluate the taste of the grapes during their final weeks of maturation?

Finally, we try to forecast, as we measure, when we will likely end up picking and what volume we can expect from the harvest. Quality, date and volume forecasts help us organize the picking crew/party and make decisions on the subsequent fermentation processes.

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