Montepulciano and Aglianico Harvest 2019
Montepulciano and Aglianico harvest 2019 is in full swing! The grapes are looking nice and juicy!
Time to Start Harvesting!
It's a beautiful day to harvest. There is not too much wind so that always makes being outside more enjoyable!
As always, harvest is such an exciting time of the year. All of our efforts from throughout the year are so clearly seen! The excitement never ceases to amaze me.
The grapes are just hanging out and ready to be harvested! Aren't they pretty?!?
The Harvester is on Its Way for Montepulciano and Aglianico Harvest 2019
The first step to harvesting is of course, getting the harvester going. Once the harvester is on its way, everything else starts moving. The tractor with the dump buggy gets ready to pick up its load and take it back to the barn.
At the Barn
The bins are prepared at the barn and scale moved into place.
Once at the barn, the tractor dumps the load of grapes into stacked bins. With such big harvests as Montepulciano and Aglianico are, we stack the bins three high. Stacking the bins three high makes it easier to dump into them. Plus, it looks really cool!
John, as usual, directs the tractor driver in dumping the grapes. He is not at all afraid to climb on the high bins!
Just look at those grapes pour out - rushing to be on their way to become great wine!!!
The harvester is ready to start another row. There are usually two people on the harvester at all times. The driver and another person to look at the vines and make sure it harvesting well. They are there to also make sure the grapes coming off the vines are clean.
The vineyard is looking really good. This year, we have a freeze coming over the next couple of days so we really want to get the fruit out of the vineyard. If the fruit were to freeze it would make harvesting more difficult because the fruit would fall off more easily, ahead of the harvester instead of in it. Also the skins of the grapes would start to degrade and they wouldn't be such good quality.
It's Getting Dusky
Since we had so many acres to harvest, we are working into the evening. It's beautiful lighting but the temperature starts to drop off and it's no fun working in the cold!
Loading the Truck
The fork truck has been a great help this year! It sure speeds up the process. It sure is faster than using the tractor (click here to see the tractor loading the semi) or the tele-handler (click here to see the tele-handler). All the guys like driving it but Julian made the picture!
Once in the truck, the bins are stacked if needed and moved to the back of the trailer with a pallet jack. Loaded grape bins can be very heavy to move. So most of the time, two people stay in the truck moving them around with a pallet jack.
It's gets quiet once the bins have been loaded and we're waiting for the next load of grapes to come. The perfect time to get some coffee and grab a snack!
Bye Bye Truck!
And finally, a truck is on it's way! This truck actually left earlier in the day but it was one of the last trucks to go. The grapes are out of the vineyard and on their way to the winery to become amazing wine!
Finished with Montepulciano and Aglianico Harvest 2019
Since today was the last harvest for 2019, now we will get the vineyard ready for its winter sleep. We can't wait to see what next year brings!
If you enjoyed the Montepulciano and Aglianico Harvest 2019, be sure to check out the links below for more posts like this one!
Trellising Grapevines - the Albarino