The Grape Harvest

The grape harvest is the gathering or harvesting of grapes to produce the wine. The grape harvesting period falls between the months of August and September.

The timing of the harvest depends on the ripeness of the grapes and the variety, and it is very important to obtain a ratio between the sugars and acids in the grape that is optimal for the types of wine that you want to produce. White grape varieties generally ripen earlier than those used for red wine.

There are two methods of harvesting grapes, by hand, which is the traditional way, and which produces a higher quality wine, and mechanically, which is more economical than the manual method, and is becoming more and more common.

During the wine harvest stage, certain rules must be respected. It is necessary to avoid collecting wet grapes, as water can affect the quality of the must. The grapes must be left to rest in tanks that are not too deep, to avoid them being squashed. Finally, the grapes must be transported to the places where the winemaking process will take place as soon as possible, to avoid fermentation or maceration.

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