page_title: Harvest (wine)
section_title: Hand picking
hierarchical_section_title: Harvest (wine) / Hand picking
caption_attribution_description: English: Gruner Veltliner Grapes being harvested at Hahndorf Hill in the Adelaide Hills wine region during harvest 2013
context_page_description: The harvesting of wine grapes is one of the most crucial steps in the process of wine-making. The time of harvest is determined primarily by the ripeness of the grape as measured by sugar, acid and tannin levels with winemakers basing their decision to pick based on the style of wine they wish to produce. The weather can also shape the timetable of harvesting with the threat of heat, rain, hail, and frost which can damage the grapes and bring about various vine diseases. In addition to determining the time of the harvest, winemakers and vineyard owners must also determine whether to use hand pickers or mechanical harvesters. The harvest season typically falls between August & October in the Northern Hemisphere and February & April in the Southern Hemisphere. With various climate conditions, grape varieties, and wine styles the harvesting of grapes could happen in every month of the calendar year somewhere in the world. In the New World it is often referred to as the crush.
context_section_description: Despite the costs, some wineries prefer the use of human workers to hand-pick grapes. The main advantage is the knowledge and discernment of the worker to pick only healthy bunches and the gentler handling of the grapes. The production of some dessert wine like Sauternes and Trockenbeerenauslese require that individual berries are picked from the botrytized bunches which can only be done by hand. In areas of steep terrain, like in the Mosel, it would be virtually impossible to run a mechanical harvester through the vineyard. In many wine regions, migrant workers are a sizable composition of the harvest time work force as well as local student and itinerant workers. Karen Ross, president of the California Association of Winegrowers, has estimated that as of 2007 as many as 70% of the employees in the California wine industry may be immigrants from Mexico.
caption: Grüner Veltliner grapes being hand harvested at Hahndorf Hill vineyard in the Adelaide Hills in Australia.
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