By Aillinn Brennan • Special to The Current
The mellowing days of autumn are here and the 2019 vintage is upon us. All across the northern hemisphere harvest has begun. September and October are the peak times. Still harvest times vary with the warmest vineyards of Cyprus, and some in the southeast US beginning as early as July.
In the southern hemisphere the peak is March and April, with the coolest regions of New Zealand not picking till early June. It is safe to say that there is grape picking going on somewhere, at any given time, throughout the calendar year, on Earth.
In France, the Beaujolais harvest is on. In farming, the weather is your friend and your foe. An August 20th harvest report described heavy wind and rain storms breaking out around France. The rain was welcomed by most vignerons and the wind did not cause much damage. But, in Southern Beaujolais, it hailed which resulted in estimated losses of 20-50% of crop. Globally a drop in the bucket, locally not so much. Loss is loss.
Here in the US, the Sonoma County California harvest began in mid-August and things are looking very good. The growing season was over all described as a rainy winter, cool spring and according to the Wine Industry Advisor, “the summer growing season has been near-perfect.” Harvests beginning in mid-August in California are typically for sparkling wine production.
Throughout harvest, tough decisions are the job of the grower who HAS to deliver the best possible fruit to the winemaker. In acres, and acres, and acres, of vines with tons, and tons, and tons of fruit, what to pick now, and why, IS the call.
In some vineyards, grapes may linger on the vines late into November, December or even January. When all of their companions have been picked, and the vineyard is looking back to its bones, late harvest grapes remain. These very ripe grapes make sweet wines. The famous German Eiswein, or Ice Wine, is the extreme example. The highest quality, and very expensive ones, are picked in November or December, on the first frosty morning where it reaches down to 18 F or below. The frozen clusters get pressed immediately. The water in the frozen grapes crystallizes and those ice crystals separate out at pressing leaving a sweet, nectar like juice for the winemaker to create one of the world’s most expensive and sought after, dessert wines, Eiswein.
Catch a peek, of the peak! Here in PA the 2019 vintage harvest is here. At the time of writing, decisions about rain fall and when to pick the first grape of the season, Zweigelt, were on the table, at Galen Glen Winery, our neighbor in Andreas, PA. If the weather cooperates harvest commences on Labor Day weekend and will continue through October with maybe some late harvest sweet surprises.
So, what does all of this grape growing and picking amount to? In 2018, planet Earth’s dedicated wine farmers and vineyard crews produced enough grapes to make 282 million hectoliters, or a mind boggling, 7.5 billion gallons of wine!
This Labor Day let us raise our glass to everyone working so hard in the vineyards around the world who demonstrate to us that this is a true labor of love. Happy Labor Day!
Aillinn Brennan is proprietor of The Marion Hose Bar located at 16 W. Broadway in Jim Thorpe. For more visit www.marionhosebar.com
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