Harvest Is in Full Swing
There’s a particular energy around the ranch this time of year. After months of watching the vines grow, tending the vineyard and waiting for the fruit to ripen, harvest is finally underway. The quiet rows of summer suddenly become a busy place, and the work of turning this year’s grapes into wine begins.
But what actually happens between a cluster of grapes hanging on the vine and the wine eventually poured into your glass? Here’s a look behind the scenes.
It Starts in the Vineyard
Harvest doesn’t begin simply because the calendar says it’s time. As the grapes ripen, they’re carefully monitored for sugar, acidity, flavor and overall balance. Numbers are important, but tasting the fruit matters too. The goal is to pick when the grapes have reached the right combination of ripeness, flavor and freshness for the wine being made.
Once that moment arrives, the grapes are picked and brought into the winery as quickly as possible. From here, things start moving fast.
From Cluster to Crush
The first stop is usually the sorting table, where leaves, damaged fruit and anything else that doesn’t belong are removed.
The clusters then go through a de-stemmer, which separates the grapes from their stems. Depending on the wine and winemaking style, the grapes may then be gently crushed. Despite the name, “crushing” isn’t about pulverizing the fruit. The idea is simply to break the skins enough to release the juice.
And this is where the paths of red and white wines begin to separate.
For most white wines, the grapes are pressed relatively quickly, separating the juice from the skins and seeds. That juice is then transferred to a tank or barrel for fermentation.
With red wines, the juice typically stays in contact with the skins during fermentation. Those skins provide much of the wine’s color, tannin, flavor and structure. That’s why the juice from a red grape can actually begin surprisingly pale and become deeply colored as fermentation progresses.
Where Grapes Become Wine
Fermentation is where the real transformation happens.
Yeast consumes the natural sugars in the grape juice and converts them primarily into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Over days or sometimes weeks, sweet grape juice gradually becomes wine.
During red-wine fermentation, the grape skins tend to float to the top of the tank and form what winemakers call the cap. That cap needs regular attention. It may be gently pushed back into the juice, called a punch-down, or juice may be pumped from the bottom of the tank over the top, called a pump-over.
Both techniques keep the skins and juice in contact and help extract color, flavor and tannin.
And yes, harvest can get a little messy.
Pressing and the Next Chapter
After a red wine has fermented with its skins, the liquid portion is drained away and the remaining skins and seeds are moved to the press. Gentle pressure extracts the wine still held inside them.
From there, the young wine begins the much slower part of its journey. Depending on the wine, it may be transferred into barrels or tanks, where it settles, develops and matures over the months ahead.
Eventually there will be blending decisions, barrel selections, bottling and still more aging before many of these wines are ready to share.
Come See Harvest at the Ranch
That’s what makes October such an interesting time to visit Martin Ranch Winery. Harvest is not something happening somewhere behind the scenes. It’s part of the rhythm of the ranch. Grapes are arriving, equipment is running, fermentation is underway and the next vintage is beginning to take shape.
When you visit during Open Weekend, take a moment to look around. The wine in your glass represents a harvest from years past, while all around you another one is just beginning its journey.
From the vineyard to the cellar to your glass, this is where it all starts.
