Each crop is distinguished from the previous one by the maturity of grapes, the level of sugar content and acidity. Therefore, it is important to choose the right time to start harvesting. Let us consider in more detail the rules for a competent cut of grapes, as well as measures for its preservation.
Signs of maturity
The most important indicators for determining the moment of picking berries are:
- The sugar content in it.
- Acidity.
The industrial maturity of grapes differs from the technical condition of the fruit. This means that the fruits contain as much sugar, acids and other substances as needed to produce the right type of wine (table or dessert). Technical maturity is determined by the results of chemical analysis.
In addition to this indicator, it is important to distinguish between the full and physiological maturity of the fruit. With full ripeness of the fruit, the level of sugar and acids for a certain period, mainly for several days, stabilizes.
Save yeast
Beginners in winemaking, using traditional recipes, make wine using wild yeast. Colonies of microorganisms “live” in abundance on the surface of grapes. To start the natural fermentation process, it is necessary that such "savages" get into the wort. Otherwise, the sugar that is contained in the berries will not ferment completely or ferment at all. For this reason, grapes are not washed before processing. If the berries are heavily contaminated, they are wiped with a dry cloth.
To preserve the greatest amount of wild yeast, winemakers are advised to follow simple recommendations during grape harvesting:
- No need to pick clusters of berries immediately after rain, and also for three days after it. This is due to the fact that most of the yeast is washed away by streams of water, and in order for those that survived to breeding have to take time. If during the summer period there was a lot of rain and it is not possible to find the best time for grape harvesting, it is necessary to make homemade starter culture in advance, which can support fermentation in the future.
- Winemakers do not advise cutting fruits early in the morning, while the dew is still lying, and also at night, when it has already fallen, and in fog. In addition to the fact that excess moisture adversely affects the state of yeast, it also spoils the taste of future wine or champagne, making them watery. When grapes are cut at the wrong time, putrefactive processes are already activated in the heat. If there are grapes affected by rot in the bunch, they can infect all their neighbors in a short period.
- Grapes, which were grown for the preparation of wine drinks, are carried out by cutting bunches with scissors or secateurs. At this stage, it is important not to damage the plaque on the fruit. To avoid this, grapes are held by the petiole.
- To minimize damage to the grapes after the cut of the bunch, for safe transportation they are placed in a flat container. The use of buckets and similar containers is not recommended.
The timing
The grape harvest time depends on many nuances: grape varieties and the type of processing, climatic conditions, etc. Varieties, depending on the ripening time, are of early, middle, and late ripening.
Grapes start with early grape varieties - “white fetish”, “pinot” group. They accumulate in their composition by the first half of September more than 17% of sugar. Then the grapes are harvested with a medium ripening time - "aligote", "Riesling", etc. The fruit processing season ends with the collection of late varieties - "Cabernet Sauvignon", "Saperavi" etc.
In most cases, grape harvesting begins with white varieties, from which light wine materials are made, which are used to create table and champagne wines.
The climatic conditions have a great influence on determining the timing of fruit ripening. The time difference between the ripening of the same grape variety depends on the ambient temperature and humidity level.
In fact, grape harvesting is a holiday whose history goes back to Ancient Rome. The celebration in honor of the future harvest was accompanied by squeezing juice for songs and dances. In Russia, there are 3 harvest holidays - Walnut, Honey and Apple Spas.
Harvest Rules
To get a quality crop, you should know how to cut the fruits correctly:
- An unsuitable time for harvesting is considered too early morning and rainy weather.
- Work is carried out in several stages, as the hands mature. To obtain accurate results, a hydrometer is used, which allows you to measure the amount of sugar. This process is troublesome, but pays off with the high quality of the harvest.
- Farmers are advised to harvest berries in the early hours of the day when there is no dew on the hands.
- If there are a lot of rotten berries in clusters, the harvesting time is slightly accelerated. Rotten berries can not only affect the quality of products, but also cause all kinds of diseases of the wine drink.
- When the harvest is completed, an inspection of the shrubbery of grapes with rejection of rotten and still green fruits is mandatory.
Manual Harvest Only
In order for the grapes to be harvested to have integrity and an attractive appearance, special technical means are used. Bunches are cut manually using a garden pruner, scissors or a sharp knife. Hand-harvested crops are rarely damaged. This method allows you to sort grapes at the same time according to their appearance. The use of technical mechanisms for grape harvesting (see photo below) damages part of the crop.
Oxidation hazard
It is important to bring the cut clusters as soon as possible into the press without damaging them. The protruding juice is oxidized quickly enough, that is, it is oxidized, especially the juice of white grape varieties. To prevent this, the fruits are pollinated with sulfur, which is considered the first blow to the quality of the wine. In addition, due to mechanical damage, the allocated berry juice begins to ferment in warm weather, and the wort acquires an acetic taste as a result of such “wild” fermentation.
Crop Conservation Measures
If the rainy autumn, some farmers use a completely new technique to eliminate the effects of rains to the maximum. So that the fruits do not swell from excessive moisture, and valuable juice does not become watery, the ground is covered with a dense plastic wrap. Other companies are trying to reduce wateryness by artificial dehydration.
Still others, before sending to chop the fruits, pour them with hot air, which dries the outer surface of the grapes well. An interesting fact is that the owners of the Chateau Petru company dried berries after rain by means of a helicopter, which circled for two hours over vineyards at low altitude.
Illiterate harvest
If the grapes are picked early, then the wine from it will turn out with a low speed and with a sharp, even unpleasant acidity, which tastes like the acidity of unripe grapes. When the fruits are picked later than the right time, they will have increased sugar content and reduced acidity. Wort from such grapes in most cases does not finish. If, nevertheless, it was possible to start the fermentation, then the result is a strong and heavy table wine.
When the wine is not bred due to the fact that the grapes after harvest contains excess sugar, the drink is prone to various diseases. With a favorable collection time and good fruit care, such wines can be ripened in the spring of next year when the onset of heat. This significantly extends the time required for the full preparation of the drink, increases the financial costs of caring for the grapes after harvesting and increases the cost of production as a whole.
The use of technical tools significantly speeds up the collection, but a certain percentage of the crop suffers from mechanical damage. To reduce the risk of rotting berries, it is important to check and sort literally the entire crop. Varieties that ripen in the bushes longer than usual are cut off at the very least, when the sugar content in the fruits is maximum.