Early this morning, I saw the first truck of grapes driving down Highway 29 in Napa Valley. The 2014 harvest is about to get into full swing. Several counties across California, have already begun picking the fruit of their yearly labor.

As we now know, ancient civilizations had always been involved with growing grapes, using the fruit to eat or to drink as a primitive form of wine. Science has given us more efficient tools to grow grapes but those principles have not changed for thousands of years.

 

Grape Harvest is Upon Us in California

 

During this time of the season, vineyard managers and winemakers are spending the majority of their time going down rows of vines to check the maturity of the berries.  Samples are taken to the lab to analyze the level of sugar, pH, acidity, yeast nutrients and potentiel alcohol. Without this battery of tests, the entire tonnage of grape from one single block will not be homogeneous. This decision-making process is one of the most crucial for winemakers. Gathering a representative sample will give the winemaker more precision to start harvest.

After those blocks of vines have been carefuly monitored several times by the winemaker, the picking date is scheduled. Manual and traditional picking will still be the main way to harvest grapes. However, many types of machines have also been available to help growers with larger fields.

 

Grape Harvest is Upon Us in California

 

Those harvesters have come a long way. Many of them have an onboard sorting system capable of cleaning the freshly picked grapes from small debris of foliage, branches and insects.  Even top producing estates have experimented with those new technologies.

 

Grape Harvest is Upon Us in California

 

When harvest has started, it takes a few days for the grapes to change their internal chemistry. Faster picking methods allow winemakers to bring to the winery a lot of grapes which will match more closely with their previous analysis. The preferred technique to pick is still by hand. This is the most delicate way to bring intact berries from the field to the winery, however, technology has already taken us in to the future.

Named after the 2008 Pixar Animation Studios film WALL-E, meet WALL-YE. This robot has already been successfully tested in winter to prune vines. With two arms and six cameras, WALL-YE can take care of 600 vines per day, and it rarely has a sick day.

 

Grape Harvest is Upon Us in California

 

Whether by hand, by harvester or with a robot, the 2014 California grape harvest is underway. The quantity and quality of this year’s bounty is already very promising.