The “Calm” Before Harvest
I’m often asked if there is a specific “busy season” working for a winery or if being a winemaker is a full-time job. Those questions always make me smile because working and managing most aspects of my family’s winery is probably three full-time jobs condensed into one title. It is a very dynamic job with intense periods that aren’t for the faint of heart. I would compare harvest to an accountant’s busy season but with intense manual labor and chemistry. After I share my response, usually, the first question I’m asked is, “when do you sleep?” Winemakers sleep in December, when the wine is resting in barrels and tanks.
As we approach the 2024 harvest season, which is the “busiest” time of the year for the wine industry, I like to reflect on the lessons I learned from the 2023 vintage, recognize the triumphs, and develop a plan of action for this upcoming vintage.
The first major step in preparing for the upcoming harvest is to make sure that all of the tanks are empty before the first grapes are processed. At this point, we have a lot of bottling left to do in order to empty those tanks!
Reflecting on the 2023 vintage, it was truly iconic in terms of fruit and wine quality. Each barrel I’ve tasted through during my blending trials showed promise and I had some hard decisions to make. For example, the 2023 Merlot is vibrant, floral, and unlike any Merlot I’ve tasted before. We’ve never produced a single varietal Merlot before. Would a single varietal Merlot sell well to customers? Is it worth bottling a wine I only have three barrels of? Sometimes a wine is so stunning that it speaks for itself.
In 2023, we had a “California-like summer” with steady hot temperatures and less rainfall than some wine growing regions in California. Our 2024 growing season has hit us with earlier heat waves and not much more rainfall than last year. Climate change is real, and honestly has benefitted many east coast wineries including ours. As of today, August 5th, we’re expecting harvest to start in about three weeks which would be two weeks earlier than last year (an already early start).
As much as I, like every other winemaker, wishes every year that harvest would start later than we anticipate, it truly is my favorite time of the year and I love to share it with anyone who would like to experience or witness it (it’s pretty satisfying to watch grapes being pressed). I’m expecting this vintage to be just as stunning as the 2023 vintage. So, ready or not here we go!
To be included in this year’s harvest schedule, please email Rachel@loewvineyards.net