Harvest month in Paso Robles occurs during October of every year. It’s the time of year when the grapes have fully matured and are ready to be picked and put into production. The vineyards and wineries of Paso Robles put on a variety of different events and activities to help celebrate all the hard work that was done over the course of the year.
Just like any other farmer, winemakers must rely on grapes in order to produce their product. Grape vines are typically planted during the late winter/early spring with the intention of harvesting them between late August and October. During these times the winemakers must ensure that their grape vines are getting the appropriate amount of nutrients from the soil, sunlight, and water in order to grow to the standards they are looking for.
Once the grapes have reached the desired maturity level, the grapes are harvested and are ready to being the wine making process.
Paso Robles Harvest Month
Being a town centered around winemaking and wineries, Paso Robles loves to celebrate the fall harvest through the entire month of October. This gives everyone a chance celebrate all the hard work that has been done throughout the year, and to celebrate the next step in the winemaking process.
Paso Robles wineries and businesses celebrate all month long by putting on over 100 different events and activities.
Events range from live music performances and concerts to special tastings and dinners. You’ll find just about everything happening as the town really comes to life during harvest month.
In the past, Paso used to only celebrate the harvest with events happening the last weekend in October, but due to the overwhelming popularity of the event, and the number of participants, it has now evolved into a monthlong celebration, and fall is the perfect time.
With the cooler weather and the beautiful colors popping up all over the region, fall is one of the most popular times to visit Paso Robles. You’ll find that the beautiful landscapes and scenery transform into something even more beautiful as we move out of summer and into the cooler months.
As the temperature begins to cool down, you’ll find it more relaxing and enjoyable to sit outside and sip on your favorite wines from the region, without having to worry about overheating or sweating through your clothes.
Harvest month is a great time to visit Paso Robles if you’ve never been, or if you’re looking to come back to wine country. With all of the events going on and all the activities, the whole month of October is packed full of entertainment.
Paso really comes alive during harvest month and for good reason. The whole town has worked hard to get to this point and once the harvest is complete, the wine making process can start!
What Goes Into The Harvest Process?
Ensuring the Grapes are Ready for Harvest
As veraison begins to occur in the grapes, the transformation from small, green berries, to the more mature, beautiful colors that we know them for, it means that it’s getting close to harvest time.
While veraison helps us understand when a grape is nearing its ripeness, it’s important to take samples to ensure that the grapes are ready for harvesting.
A grape is plucked from the vine and smashed, leaving the juices to be tested with a refractometer. This gives the winemaker the Brix measurement of the grapes which helps determine the sugar content of the grapes, which helps the winemaker understand the ripeness and can also help with determining the alcohol levels.
Once the winemaker has determined that the grapes meet their expectations, it is time to pick them off of the vine.
Picking the Grapes off the Vine
Picking the grapes is exactly what it sounds like, the grapes are removed from the vine and sorted for inspection, or triage. This process can be done by machine or by hand, but most traditional wine makers still prefer to hand harvest the grapes from the vine.
Picking the grapes by hand is going to be more time consuming and tedious, but it helps prevent damage to the grape and can result in a higher quality pick. Skilled pickers can quickly identify grapes that are ripe and ready for picking, while easily discarding damaged or unripe grapes. This can help speed up the picking process and make it very efficient.
Depending on the climate, wine picking is often done in the evening or night hours when the temperatures are cooler for the pickers. Winemakers and vineyards have to be careful though as waiting until the nights are too cool can cause frost to develop which can cause damage to the grapes. This is why it’s important to understand your growing climate and region to be able to determine the best time of year for your harvest.
Sorting The Grapes
After the grapes are picked off the vine they are then brought in for sorting. The sorting process, just like the picking process, can be done by hand or by machine. Unlike the picking process, the use of vibrating conveyor belts are used very frequently as opposed to hand sorting depending on the size of the operation.
As technology improves in regard to sorting, laser optical methods are also being implemented by some organizations. These lasers can scan the grapes to determine exactly which grapes are good to move on and which grapes should be discarded.
Regardless of whether you sort by hand or by machine, the end goal is the same, to weed out any unripe, damaged, or bad grapes from making it through to the next step in the production process.
Once the grapes have been properly sorted and all of the bad grapes have been discarded from the line they are ready to be crushed and juiced in preparation for the fermentation and actual winemaking process.
Crushing/Juicing the Grapes
In traditional winemaking methods, grapes were stomped with bare feet in order to extract the juices from them, but with the advancements in technology, there is no longer a need to use bare feet to crush the grapes.
Today, we use a machine that can crush the grapes and destem the grapes using a method that does not destroy the seed or the stems which contain a lot of tannins within the grape. Depending on the type of wine you’re making, tannins can be necessary in creating the dryness or feel of the wine when you take a sip. By leaving the more intact seeds and stems, while crushing the skin of the grape and exposing the juice, you can add more tannins into the mix as the grapes move through the fermentation process.
Once the grapes have been crushed and juiced, the grapes then begin the fermentation process of becoming the wine that will end up in your favorite bottle.
Harvest Season in Paso Robles
Harvest season in our home of Paso Robles is an amazing time for any winemaker as well as any visitor that loves wine. The town comes alive with everyone celebrating all the hard work of the year. Different wineries and vineyards host different events like live music, winemakers dinners, and more, while restaurants in town feature various wine specials and more.
Harvest time means that we finally get to see the culmination of an entire season of tending to our grapes and it also means that those incredibly delicious new vintage bottles of wine are going to be making their way to the people that allow us to do what we do, you!
If you ever have a chance to visit Paso Robles, or any wine region, during harvest month, we highly recommend taking advantage of everything that the regions have to offer. While we will tell you that any time is a good time to visit Paso Robles, there’s just something magical about harvest month that you have to experience for yourself.
Harvest Month at Hope Family Wines
While Hope Family Wines is not offering any specific harvest month activities or events this year, we are continuing to offer our Ultimate Cab Lover’s Tasting.
The Ultimate Cab Lover’s Tasting gives you a chance to taste a variety of styles of Cabernet Sauvignon all crafted by Austin Hope. Your flight will include Cabernet’s from Liberty School, Treana, Quest, and Austin Hope.
This is an event that requires a reservation, so please visit our website today to book your spot!