September, in San Pancrazio, is the month in which an entire year's work converges into a few decisive weeks. The harvest is not a single event, but a planned sequence: every variety, every parcel, every exposure has its own optimal moment for picking, and establishing the right order is one of the most delicate decisions of the entire production cycle.
The order of harvesting: why not everything is picked at once
The choice of harvest sequence depends on several agronomic and enological factors:
- Varietal earliness: each grape variety has its own ripening curve. White-berry varieties destined for fresh wines, along with rosés, generally reach technological maturity first, followed by red-berry varieties destined for more structured wines.
- Parcel exposure and microclimate: rows facing south or planted on looser soils ripen earlier than those in cooler areas or on more clay-rich soils, even within the same variety.
- Enological objective: as seen with Merlot (Rosé vs. Riserva), the same variety can be picked at different times depending on the desired outcome — it's not only the vine that dictates timing, but also the winery.
- Ripeness analysis: periodic vineyard sampling (measuring Brix, pH, total acidity, and sensory assessment of skins and seeds) allows a parcel-by-parcel ripeness map to be built, which forms the basis for the harvest schedule.
The result is a genuine logistical-agronomic plan, which also takes into account practical variables such as labor availability and winery processing capacity: you cannot pick more grapes than can be properly pressed and vinified in the following hours.
How harvesting is done today
Modern harvesting, especially for quality production, relies on a balance between targeted mechanization and selective manual picking:
- Manual picking: remains the preferred choice for grapes destined for premium wines or prized parcels, as it allows visual selection of bunches, exclusion of any that aren't perfectly healthy, and gentler transport that reduces oxidation and premature berry breakage.
- Small perforated crates: instead of large bins, low, ventilated containers are used, to prevent the weight of grapes above from crushing the bunches beneath during transport.
- Picking in the cool hours: harvesting often takes place at dawn or in the early morning, to bring the grapes into the winery at lower temperatures, limiting the activity of oxidative enzymes and the onset of unwanted spontaneous fermentation before crushing.
- Mechanical harvesters: used for larger volumes or simpler wines, today equipped with optical sensors and sorting systems that discard leaves, unripe berries, and unsuitable material, drastically reducing subsequent sorting work.
How harvesting used to be done
Until a few decades ago, harvesting was mainly a manual, communal event, often involving families and seasonal laborers for weeks. A few curiosities:
- No laboratory analysis: the decision on picking time relied solely on the winegrower's experience — tasting the berry directly, checking skin color, stem consistency — without the support of refractometers or chemical measurements.
- Transport in baskets and hampers: grapes were picked and carried by hand, often on mule-back or by horse-drawn cart, with much longer transfer times to the winery compared to today, and consequently greater exposure to oxidation.
- Foot treading: a practice now almost vanished from industrial production but still present in traditional/demonstrative contexts, it used the gentle pressure of the human foot to break the skin without crushing the seeds, avoiding the extraction of excessively bitter tannins.
- Harvest dictated by calendar and local tradition, not data: in many areas, the start date of the harvest was set by local custom or even by religious events in the rural calendar, rather than by actual ripeness monitoring.
Tradition and technology, together
Today, the harvest at La Badiola combines the best of both worlds: the sensitivity and manual attention that have always characterized quality viticulture, paired with the scientific support that allows intervention at the exact moment each parcel is ready — reducing the margin of error that was once left entirely to experience and instinct.
