The grape harvest, definitely the most awaited moment for wine growers and enthusiasts.
La Harvest is the most exciting time of the whole year for the producers, the period during which they collect the fruits of their work during the year, we can define it as a real ritual.
A work influenced by many factors, which is sublimed in the moment of the collection and the vinificationThe process by which yeasts eat sugars and produce alcohol and carbon dioxide.
In order to obtain a high quality product, many factors are involved, the personal approach to viticulture, the planting density, the yield per hectare and obviously the health of the grapes and their maturation.
The best time to harvest?
There is not really a best moment for the harvest that is valid for all the years, territories and vines. Much depends on the climatic conditions and the genetic characteristics of the vineyard or the wine that one wants to make.
In this article we will quickly outline what is meant by
- Warm years bring the grapes to maturity more quickly, but if they are too hot they risk "toasting" the grapes and therefore it is necessary to intervene in time. Similarly, cold years delay the time of veraison and consequent ripening.
- Some vines, such as the Primitivo, so called, ripen earlier than the other vines. On the other hand, Nebbiolo ripens late.
- If I want to obtain a fresh wine, with a low alcoholic degree (be it a red wine or a white wine or a sparkling wine) it is necessary to anticipate the harvest, otherwise, if you want to obtain a wine with more roundness and structure, or a dessert wine, the harvest will be late.
Maturation and types
The three types of grape ripening
Technological maturation
It's the one that identifies the proportion of balance between sugars and acids present in the grape berryAs the harvest approaches, sugars increase while acids, especially malic and acetic, decrease.
Phenolic maturation
Let's talk about
Polyphenols present in the berry and the pips,
Tannins,
Anthocyanins e
Flavoni. The longer the grapes are allowed to ripen, the more these increase.
giving structure and pretension to the wine. Color and tannicity.
Aromatic maturation
It basically concerns
the accumulation of aromatic substances, i
Terpenesinside the grape skin. Also here, as well as in the phenolic one, it is necessary to imagine this moment as the top of the pyramid, overcome which we go back.
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