8 types of grape harvest in search of excellence

Different types of grape harvests depend on how the grapes are picked, how the work is planned, and when it is carried out

A vineyard is like a microcosm governed by its own internal rules. Even more so, as time goes by, the vines reach high ages, and the winegrowers get to know in depth the characteristics of the vineyard’s soil, its different plots, and each of the vines that make them up. This means that there can be significant differences between two nearby vineyards where the same varieties are grown; therefore, the types of grape harvest recommended for one vineyard may not be recommended for another.

Beyond the characteristics of the vines, the specificities of the terroir, the orography of the plots or the climatic conditions of the vineyards, there is another critical element that must be taken into account when deciding on the types of grape harvest to be implemented to collect the annual grape harvest. What element are we referring to? The result of the harvest: the wines.

For example, suppose a winery wishes to make wines without a very marked personality and does not aspire to excellence. In that case, it may not need to use more complex and costly types of harvesting, such as a manual harvest that is carried out cluster by cluster, taking into account the grapes’ ripeness level. If a winery wants to make a raised wine, it must let the grapes ripen more than usual and opt for a late harvest.

The viticulture and oenology teams’ knowledge and collaboration are essential to determining the types of grape harvest to use and obtaining the perfect raw material to make the wines that the winery wishes to achieve. With this in mind, we will break down some of the types of grape harvest used worldwide.

The human being versus the machine. Manual and mechanical harvesting

The main factor that is usually taken into account to differentiate the types of grape harvest is the procedure followed to pick the grapes. Or rather, who or what is entrusted with this action.

Nowadays, various machinery and devices make it possible to mechanize many jobs in the primary sector. The wine industry is no stranger to this. In many vineyards, there is equipment capable of harvesting the grapes from the vines without the need to resort to human beings to carry out the most characteristic task of the grape harvest. However, the vineyards must comply with a series of technical characteristics to do this. For example, they must have enough space for the machine to move among the vines.

Mechanical harvesting saves time and effort and reduces the workload since fewer harvesters are needed. So why do many wineries continue to harvest by hand?

• Mechanical harvesting does not discern the state of ripeness and health of each cluster.
• Manual harvesting allows the grape harvesters to ensure the highest quality of the grapes, harvest them, and place them in their respective boxes.

For this reason, in wines made using traditional methods, the grapes are still harvested by hand, with the grape harvester and his pliers doing the work.

Ripening management. Harvesting by parcels, by type of grape, by clusters, scaling…

How do you decide when to harvest a vineyard? Weather forecasts and, above all, the grapes’ ripeness are considered.

Do all the grapes in a vineyard have the same level of ripeness? Generally no. Especially in those vineyards where there are significant differences in altitude or where different grape varieties coexist. Therefore, when talking about types of grape harvest, we must take into account the following:

• Harvesting by parcels. In some wineries, such as Pazo Baión, the harvest is carried out in a staggered manner, distinguishing between plots. This practice is carried out because the vines of each plot have their characteristics, and the differences in altitude directly affect the level of ripening. Harvesting by plots also allows us to differentiate the grapes produced by each plot and use them differently when making the wines. Thus, in our winery, the grapes from some plots are used to make Pazo Baión, while others are the raw material for Vides de Fontán.
• Harvesting by type of grape. Some vineyards are monoculture; for example, in Pazo Baión, only albariño grapes are grown. However, there are also vineyards where vines of different varieties coexist. This means that the grapes have various levels of ripeness. In addition, by separating the grapes according to their type, it is possible to determine precisely which varieties are used for each of the wines produced in the winery.
• Harvesting by cluster. Depending on the arrangement of the bunches, the growth of the vines and the leaves they have after leaf removal, it is possible to detect differences in the level of ripeness in the vines of the same variety and located in the same plot. For this reason, some wineries choose to harvest according to the ripeness of each cluster. In this line, we can also mention another type of harvest used in the vineyards: the scalar harvest. This consists of harvesting the clusters when they reach their optimum ripeness level and is used, above all, in extensive vineyards.

Fighting against high temperatures. Night harvesting

When discussing types of grape harvesting, we must also consider the time of day when the work is carried out. Surprising as it may seem, there are regions where the grapes are harvested at night. Why? The heat, since the high temperatures, affect:

• The condition of the grapes can cause unwanted fermentation and alter the aromas and composition of the bunches.
• The well-being of the people involved in the harvest. Harvesting grapes at temperatures of around 40ºC is exhausting.

Fortunately, in wine-growing areas such as the Rías Baixas, there is no need to resort to this type of harvest, as the climate is milder and the proximity of the sea softens the temperatures.

Playing with the weather. The benefits of the late harvest

We could not forget in our review of the various types of harvesting the grapes that are harvested outside the usual calendar, which, in the case of the Rías Baixas, usually takes place between September and October.

Thus, the late harvest takes place a few weeks after the other types of grape harvest, well into October. In addition, its realization depends on the following factors:

• The weather is at the beginning of autumn since the grapes may rot if it rains.
• The characteristics of the vineyard plots, since there must be humidity during the night and high, dry temperatures during the day to produce grapes:
  • The overripening of some clusters.
  • The appearance of noble rot.
  • The raising of the grapes.

Why do some wineries choose this method over other types of harvesting? Noble rot and raising alter the grapes’ metabolic composition and allow for the optimum grapes for making raisin wines such as Gran a Gran.

Unlike the other types of grape harvest, the late harvest cannot be carried out in every vineyard, nor is it possible to do it yearly. The characteristics of the plots and the autumn weather are decisive for the viticulture teams when deciding whether or not to let the grapes continue to hang on the vines for a few more weeks.

An artisanal task. Harvesting grapes berry by berry

Earlier, we talked about types of grape harvest in which the grape picking work is carried out manually and staggered, paying attention to the ripeness level of the grapes. Well, it is possible to go a step further and harvest bunch by bunch and berry by berry. This strategy is followed in many late harvests because, as Andrea Obenza, winemaker at Pazo Baión, points out, in the late harvest carried out at this winery to make Gran a Gran, the harvesters are faced with three different situations: grapes that are overripe, grapes with noble Botrytis and raisin grapes. This means that each berry must be treated differently.

In addition, unlike other types of grape harvest, it is advisable to opt for a berry-by-berry harvest in the late harvest because grapes with Botrytis noble are extraordinarily fragile. If not treated carefully, their skins could fracture and cause undesirable oxidation.

Are there better and worse types of grape harvest? No. Each vineyard must design its harvest based on a thorough knowledge of the vines, the vineyards and the wines.

The best example of this is Gran a Gran, a semi-dry and raisined Rías Baixas that is harvested late and berry by berry to obtain an extraordinary raw material to produce a surprising Albariño, with candied and honeyed notes that is creamy and smooth in the mouth.