Harvest season is fast approaching (we’re talking a week or two out!) and that means we need to clean our equipment and empty our tanks to prepare for the incoming fruit! Our harvest season typically begins in late August or early September and extends though the beginning of October with the grapes ripening at different times depending on the year and the variety.
So, how exactly do we know what and when to pick? Primarily, we measure for something called Brix. Brix measures the amount of sugar in a liquid where one unit is 1g of sugar in 100g of liquid. The amount of sugar in the grapes directly correlates to the level of alcohol in the finished wine, so for a dry wine, the higher the Brix, the sweeter the grapes, potentially leading to higher alcohol content.
We start testing Brix levels mid-late August when the grapes have changed color and you can smell the grapes walking though the vineyard! A random sample of berries from each variety is collected to be tested. We use a tool called a refractometer (pictured below) which uses the refractive properties of sugar in light to determine the Brix levels. Juice from each berry is squeezed onto the plate at one end and, looking through the sight glass at the other end, we can see the reading of Brix.
As a general rule, we look for the berries to be in the 17-22 Brix range before harvesting. La Crescent for example, is typically harvested closer to 17 due to the tendency for the grapes to shatter or fall off the cluster more easily. There are certain seasons where achieving the optimal Brix level is more difficult. A colder or rainier summer might mean the grapes never reach the desired sugar levels or, alternatively, if the berries start to attract too much attention from the birds and bees, it might be necessary to harvest early, opting for a larger harvest rather than a sweeter one.
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