It’s the Final Countdown!

If there’s one universal milestone that starts the countdown to harvest, it’s verasion. When the grapes switch from growing to ripening and the skins start to change color, it’s time to prepare for harvest season. There is a ton of work to do to ensure that we’re ready for the first bins of perfectly ripened fruit. While we haven’t harvested any fruit yet, Harvest 2023 is upon us!

In The Vineyard

Starting in late July, all eyes turn towards the vineyard, looking for the first shades of purple to appear. Once it arrives, it happens fast. These pictures from our estate vineyard in Oakville were taken over a few short weeks! Verasion was a little later than in recent years, likely due to the cooler spring and abundant rains this year. Even though we’re trending a bit later than usual, we still have plenty of opportunities for hot days to move the ripening process along. In the coming days and weeks, we’ll start dropping clusters that are behind in ripening. We’ll also start pulling leaves around the clusters to optimize the amount of sunlight that reaches the grapes.

In The Winery

Between November and August, the winery is used for a multitude of winemaking activities. We pump the barrels back into tanks when we’re bottling. We store barrels in the winery when needed. Sometimes, it’s even a reception area for a private event. But as harvest nears, it’s time to organize and stage our equipment. Tanks are checked and cleaned. Barrels are moved out. Seals, clamps, and hoses are inspected. This is when the production building comes alive!

On The Crushpad

The crush pad is the action-packed epicenter of harvest. Our production team is currently busy setting up the different pieces of equipment we’ll use to process the fruit when it arrives. This year, we’ve added a new bladder press, increasing our ability to press more white grapes when they arrive and are at the peak of freshness. We’re also performing inspections on our optical sorter. This incredibly complex machine is used on many of our red varietals to give us only the best grapes to make wine from. It scans each individual grape and separates the best fruit from the imperfect grapes that are unripe, too small, shriveled, etc. The great wall of bins is back, as well. When a vineyard is ready to harvest, we deliver the 1/2 ton white bins to the vineyard ahead of time and then return to us filled with fruit. The wall is constantly being built up and taken down, but it’s impossible to miss when you’re visiting the winery during harvest!