🌿 Hand harvesting
Picking bunches by hand with secateurs, gently on the berries.
Hand harvesting is the picking of grape bunches by hand, with secateurs or a small knife. The picker cuts the bunch and puts it in a crate or bucket. The berries stay whole and the vine’s branches are not damaged.
It is the gentlest method. It lets you choose only ripe bunches, discard rotten and diseased ones, and pick in several passes if the berries ripen unevenly. Hand harvesting is needed where a machine simply cannot go: on steep slopes, on terraces, on pergolas. For some wines it is required by law, for example for Champagne.
The picked grapes are put in small crates so the bunches do not press on one another and get crushed. The crates are taken quickly to the winery before the berries warm up. Sometimes the grapes are sorted again on a table.
The drawback of hand harvesting is cost: it takes many people and much time. That is why cheaper wines are more often picked by machine. Hand harvesting belongs to the grape harvest and to the work of grape pickers. Secateurs are the main tool and the crate the main container.
How it connects to Wine
🌿 Hand harvesting → kind of → 🌿 Grape harvest → kind of → 🌿 Viticulture → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Next step
- 🍷 Sorting table, 🌿 Harvest crate
- Previous step
- 🌿 Pruning shears
- Works with
- 🍷 Grape picker
- Part of
- 🌿 Grape harvest
Frequently asked questions
What is hand harvesting of grapes?
Picking bunches by hand with secateurs, gently for the berries.
Why is hand harvesting used?
It allows ripe bunches to be chosen, keeps berries undamaged and works on steep slopes.
Why is hand harvesting more expensive?
It takes many people and much time, so cheaper wines are more often machine-picked.
What to read next
- 🍷 Sorting table — A table or moving belt where rotten and unripe berries, leaves and debris are removed by hand before crushing.
- 🌿 Harvest crate — A small crate or back basket for picked bunches.
- 🌿 Pruning shears — Garden shears for pruning vines and cutting bunches.
Similar
🌿 Machine harvesting · 🌿 Grape ripeness · 🌿 Annual growth cycle of grapevines