UNIT 3 – Facts to know about harvesting

Facts to know:

1. The prefect time for the harvest is determined by:
   1. Sugar content
   2. Healthiness of the grapes
   3. Weather
   4. Acidity
2. Harvest can be done:
   1. By hand
   2. With harvest machines
3. Advantages of the machine harvest are:
   1. High amount of grapes in short time
   2. Harvest during night at cool temperatures
4. Advantage of handpicked grapes:
   1. Different stages of harvest in one vineyard are possible
   2. Each bunch can be selected individually.
   3. If there is botrytis, it can be easily removed by hand and scissor.
5. The harvest technique is a fundamental decision of the winemaker and is influenced by the wineries philosophy.
6. Grapes are transported from the vine stock to the grape boxes in buckets or wheelbarrows. 
7. Advantage of a harvest box of 400 kg each is that they can be emptied in the cellar by forklift. 
8. As a result, the mash does not have to be pumped and it is prevented from the interference caused by sediments during processing.