When to Pick Red Wine Grapes

In this video, we are discussing when is the best time to pick red wine grapes. The best time to pick red wine grapes is when they are optimally ripe which can be determined by a variety of factors. Considerations include percent sugar or brix, pH, seed maturity, stem maturity, upcoming weather, and recent weather. To learn more about when you should pick red grapes, checkout this video!

[paulf]

Thank you for this. I'm growing cabernet and merlot grapes at our house here in Napa. Our vines are only 2 years old and we wanted to try making some wine from them this year, although we have been told that our vines may not be mature enough at this time to make good wine. We figured we would just start trying it out anyway so we can learn. Your videos have been very helpful to us!

[martinsundqvist]

I feel you. Growing grapes in Sweden (Alaska latitude) is a challange too 😃

[jay_]

Wow what a sweet grapes. I wish I could set up my own grape vineyard soon

[lampheat]

Thank you for the video. I just put in a small vineyard this season so looking forward to picking in a Year's to come. Just Pinot noir and chardonnay. In the Willamette valley, Oregon. I'm sure will contend with the birds as we actually start getting grapes on the vines but right now it's a battle with the deer to keep the leaves on the vines.

[ccmagny]

Thanks to share your feelings and experience.
(sorry for my bad english, not my langage day of birth).

I appreciate you've explained, that we need so many and different things to consider, to choose, as the best it is possible, the date to harvest.

With humility (because our job must be managed with knowledge and modesty - we have to discover new things at each vintage, which is one of the pleasure but complexity of the job), i can add a complementary point of view to your perfect reporting.

In each area in the world, with the vines and kind of wine we expect to have, always with the influence of the weather of the year, we can have different settings or situations which could involve some decisions or practice.

You talked about varieties (cabernet, merlot...), problems you can have with birds, diseases, rain, rot or others... and you are fully right.

So, i allow myself to add other feelings (to increase the fact that the date of the harvest is not so evident to choose) :

1. Even if you work with only one variety (ex Pinot Noir for red wines in Burgundy), you have to consider that inside the same family, each vine can be (is) different (number of bunches and size, vigor, age, behavior, clone, massale...), and inside a bunche, different berries. So it gives you more difficulties to have an average idea, but with relatively young vines (i think it is the case in your video), it is a little bit easier an regular.

2. Regardless of climat or exposure, the influence of the soil, and kind of soil, relation between the plant and this one, will be every time very important (impact of dryness or wetness, rot or not, behavior of the vines, life in soil or not, richness or not, basic or acid, kind of rootstock, way to manage it, kind of environment...). And more and more, with the change of climat and with more frequent extreme phenomena, this influence is more and more notable (even for the maturation).

It is a pleasure to share my little feeling about your video, with 40 years in Burgundy, always with certainty "i will learn something new each day", and i share fully the fact, that to decide the date of the harvest, is not only based on scientist analyses or recipe, but with your feeling and knowledge too, observation, tasting (if you have a cherry tree in your garden, with great color but no fruit sensation, is it time to pick them ???). Always a question of balance !

Christophe Chauvel.

[anthonypape]

In Southwest Suburbs of Chicago. Have Frontenac Hybrid red grapes. I ended up picking mine in second week of September because I was dealing with bees feasting on grapes that had split on their own. I know, traditionally, vines would be planted in a way to have “morning sun, (facing East), and afternoon sun (facing west)” - or maybe in a northeast towards southwest fashion. But, I also learned that this type of vine might need to ripen, and get as much sun as possible. So, I purposely planted my vine to run East to west, so that it just gets bombarded by the sun all day. I think it all worked out okay, though, I am just about ready to bottle now so that it can age. This is my very first harvest, and very first time trying this so I am learning as I go. I will let the wine age in their bottle probably until Easter. I should get about 3 bottles since this was the first year I had fruit after planting a year-old vine last year. Thanks again for your tutorials and to all who read this far!! Lol

[stanleygrover]

I use the glass Hornet traps, that are shaped like a bee hive. But instead of the additive they sell with it. I put 1 table spoon of Honey into 6 ounces of hot water and stir it up and pour it into the glass trap. Hornets and flies can not resist .

[doityourselflivinggardenin]

I hire a skunk to eat the yellow jacket ground nests. My beekeeper friends don't like the idea, but it works for me. Another added benefit is that they will eat your lawn grubs, reducing next year's Japanese beetle population. Yeah, that leaves holes in my lawn, but we are country folk who don't really care. It all levels back out eventually. When the skunk comes around, the amount of yellow jackets in my vineyard drops like a rock. Seriously. I feel fortunate to get a visit just before harvest season. If I didn't, I would probably ask around to trap one and put it in my yard. Yeah, that sounds a little red necked, but it works.... just like duct tape.

On another note, I watched this video to get an idea of when to harvest my Marquette grapes. This will be the first harvest for them. I have no idea how high the Brix will go. Therefore, I am testing every other day and charting it. If it levels off I will pick them. Right now the average is 20.20 Brix after testing about 6 grapes from various locations. Now here is the issue... Finger Lakes vineyards are not going to sell Marquette juice for another two weeks. Juice that I have purchased in the Finger Lakes region never hits above 16 to 18 brix. My growing zone is colder than theirs. Somethings seems a bit odd. I'm afraid that if I wait too long the grapes will turn to mush. I had that problem once with Itascas and it wasn't a good thing. I don't really expect an answer to this because each year and environment is different. I'm just putting it out there incase somebody has run into this issue before. One other point; none of my grapes have ever hit 20 brix, so I am puzzled why these Marquettes are there and why so early. My Itascas are at 17.8 brix and climbing. I am already at the level of Finger Lakes juice, but early. With that being said, all my fruit and veggie harvests have been early this year.

[johnburke]

You mentioned the grapes drying out and raisining a bit, and that spurred a thought in my head. Have you ever made or investigated straw wine? Sort of the Greek cousin of icewine

[davidbattrick]

If only I had seen this last month, first time I pick my pinot noir to make my first batch of wine, they where at 7 brix, ugh...added a lot of sugar, o'well, learning from you videos, practicing with wine kits through the winter and planning for next years harvest...:)

[limesinfinity]

Have you considered putting some rocks under the vines, to help with light reflection?

[footnotedrummer]

Thanks for the info! We're in south east MI and we picked our grapes based on pH this year (about 3 weeks ago). We've typically tried to focus on getting the brix up as high as possible, but when doing this... we notice a lot of fruit loss. So this year... we targeted getting the pH within the acceptable range of 3.2-3.4 We targeted this range because we've consistently found that our pH raises about 0.2 after fermentation. I will say that several of our varietals (mostly the whites) all fell in the 2.7-2.8 range, but those (for some reason) never seem to get higher than this. Friends of ours own a commercial winery and they picked their Marquette @ 3.59. However... they didn't raise post fermentation, and they locked in at 3.59 overall. Those were picked about 2 weeks ago as well. Bottom line... I'm very curious how you're able to wait as long as you do, when you're in a warmer climate than us? Very interesting.

[silky-smooth]

What do you use to spray your vines? I'm in northern California and I have Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Thx for all of this information.

[fstarockaburns]

Helpful, lost a whole bunch waiting too long last 2 months - I have a refractometer so will use it. Have a few vines with good looking clusters that should finish up soon so I can do a test for 3rd Yr next Yr

[goodgnarfun]

I just picked 2-3 lbs of st. Croix and marechal Foch after their harvest at a local vineyard. I crushed and added this to a cab sauv kit I have still fermenting going on day 11. Have you ever added fresh grapes to a wine kit with success?

[pigzaj]

In northwestern PA growing French-American hybrids and the struggle is getting brix over 20. The hornets and yellow jackets are ferrocious and will burst open clusters. Has anyone used insect netting/traps or recommend any type of way to increase time on the vine?

[michaelgillespie]

Do wine grapes grow good in upstate South Carolina?

[judithrusnack]

I'm growing Itasca cold hardy grapes. Are these considered hybrids? Thanks!

[SM-cfkv]

Hello friend can you explain more about seeds I’m using slow juicer to crush the grape and It crush the seed to 😬

[Alice-blues]

I wonder how our grandparents managed without any measuring gadgets? Nor preservative, yeast strains and good equipment !