The much-awaited harvest
The days very much longed for have arrived, during which hard work, meticulous care and year-long dreams are resumed. Through the harvest, Nature hands over its produce so that our winemakers can display their art, experience and expert knowledge in the search for balanced, high-quality wines that will fill our glasses.
It is a period of non-stop work in the vineyards, longer and hectic days, lots of enthusiasm and expectations. The berries are carefully inspected to decide the optimal picking time; weather factors play a vital role in speeding up or slowing down this process: temperature spikes, rainfall, hail storms, contingencies that might set or change the pace of each day or night’s work. To avoid premature oxidation, night picking is preferred when it comes to harvesting white grape varieties; however, daytime is better suited to black grape varieties. The key to a successful harvest is the work of men and women – besides the always appreciated assistance of state-of-the-art technology – whose expert hands and effort make the harvest dream a reality.
Each harvest is unique, and this is the light in which our team understands it. Quality is a top priority and to achieve it, we merge technological resources with the dexterity and finesse of manual work.
At Rutini, the grapes allocated to premium wines are hand-harvested to avoid crushing and then taken to the winery where they will go through an optical sorter that can handle up to 8000 kg/hour. It is interesting to note that when big volumes are brought into the winery, a big part of this huge batch is always sorted by hand.
We also rely on a walk-in cooler in our facilities where the berries are kept in perfect conditions awaiting to be processed. In addition, the proximity of the winery to the vineyards is critical to the health of the berries since long trips and exposure to potentially damaging factors, such as high temperatures and long waiting times, are avoided.
The next step – as the vineyards are being stripped of their grapes – will be the vinification, a process where creativity, tradition, innovation and excellence come into play in pursuit of the balance any distinct wine deserves.