Page 10 - Grapevine March-April 2020

In The Winery

Pre-Harvest Planning

By: Tom Payette, Winemaking Consultant
P reparing for harvest is critical and happens months at a minimum. Have cellar workers use this

for their projected time off also. It is a great com-
during all the larger part of a year. Let’s
start thinking about harvest now. It’s not
a one-day process just before the first load of fruit munication resource for everyone!
arrives on the crush pad. We will go over the plan- Note taking during harvest: This is the first step
ning process of how to be most prepared and con- and the key step for subsequent success in future
fident when the fruit of the harvest starts to arrive. harvest(s) to come. Make notes of any production
Part of the plan may include taking a vacation so pitfalls, machinery issues, fruit handling upgrade
read on! wishes, squealing bearings, worn belts etc. Keep
visiting this list and make sure to plug budgetary
Obtain a calendar: This will be the most useful items in at the appropriate time.
tool for your planning from bottling, to fixing equip-
ment and ordering yeast/chemicals etc. I prefer a When do you start? Start preparing for the har-
large erasable calendar so one can plan out 4 to 6 vest planning exercise by optimistically looking at

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