Grapes harvest has officially begun in Georgia! I have loved seeing and hearing the reports from folks across south and middle Georgia as they begin their harvest and get prepped for the harvest days! While many cultivars/areas still have weeks to months before harvest, I figure I will repost some of the considerations for deciding when to harvest! As we saw a few days ago, the next couple of weeks should be pretty rainy, which is important to keep in mind!
Harvest Decision Considerations:
- upcoming weather (forecasted rain or storm coming?),
- the vine status thus far in the season (is your canopy happy and healthy or has the vine been suffering?),
- wine style goals (‘early’ harvests can produce lighter, more acid-forward wine)
- labor availability (can you get hands to help when you need it?),
- cultivar (are the clusters: thin skinned? tight clustered? rot prone?)
Repost from 2018 by Cain: https://viticulture.uga.edu/2018/08/harvest-update-good-luck/
Deciding when to harvest: As I mentioned in the previous post – we may have to sacrifice some maturity for bringing rot-free fruit into the winery; this will be cultivar-dependent, and more attention will need to be given to thin-skinned, tight-clustered, rot-prone whites (Chardonnay, Pinot gris, Vidal blanc) and rot-prone reds (Merlot) relative to cultivars like Chambourcin, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Norton, Petit Verdot, and Petit Manseng. Go out and scout for diseases. Taste the fruit. Observe the skin integrity and seed texture and color. Measure sugars, acids and pH. Use all tools (sensory, chemical, weather forecast) to make judicious harvest decisions.
Harvesting “early” can produce lighter, acid-forward wine styles (table/food wines, sparkling wines, rose wines, etc.). One may decide to take a conservative approach and pick some of the crop early to make lighter wine styles and hedge bets in hanging the rest of the crop in aim of making a full-bodied, round wine. Hanging fruit does not necessarily guarantee higher sugars, but does generally guarantee higher pH, lower acidity, and greater risk of fruit falling apart – keep this in mind when forecasting wine style goals and what will need to be done in the winery to amend unbalanced fruit chemistry. Yes – fruit with low Brix will need amended by chaptalization (sugar addition). But then again fruit with low acidity and high pH will also need amended with acids. Which is the right way, or the lesser of two evils? Not my place to say. But – please keep in mind that sugar is far from the only indicator of maturity; Brix should therefore not be the lone factor used to decide when to harvest. As you hopefully have over the past five months – pay close attention to the weather forecast. Please pick the fruit if it is creeping up in pH and falling apart and there is hurricane forecasted. However, your Cabernet franc and Petit Verdot might benefit from longer hang time if the fruit is rot-free and sunny weather is forecasted.
Additional Resources:
- Harvest considerations – Another previous UGA Cain Hickey blog on 2017’s harvest https://viticulture.uga.edu/2017/09/harvest-update-post-irma-harvest-considerations/
- Determining Harvest Priorities – Maryland Extension – https://extension.umd.edu/resource/determining-harvest-priorities
UPCOMING EVENTS:
- 17 August – Muscadine Cultivar Field Day – UGA campus in Tifton, GA. – https://viticulture.uga.edu/2024/07/muscadine-cultivar-field-day-17-august-24/
- American Society for Enology and Viticulture – Eastern Section Hangtime Sessions Grapevines to Wines – 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM ET Registration Link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hkUYiyDIR4isot9iy8tW0w
- August 8th – Let’s get Technical. A review of the newest technologies that are taking grape growing into the future. The My EV Tool(My Efficient Vineyard), GeoVine GIS technologies, PIVC technology
- September 12th – Learn about the breeding of rootstocks and current progress.
- October 10th – Trellis Designs for your specific grape and which grape varieties prefer what type of pruning: Cane vs. Spur.
- November 14th – Research update and review on frost protection products and technologies
- December 12th – An update on the acceptance of blends across the country. A session dedicated to discussing blending in the winery.
- *Hangtime Sessions Archive! follow on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@asev-esv
Let us know if you have additional questions!
