The grapes harvest festival continue to be celebrated all over the world. Although it is increasingly mechanized with industrial products, even today going to harvest is quite an experience.
What is it?
The harvest is the harvesting of the grapes that will later be used for the production of wine. The harvest is so important for the wine-growing regions, that on many occasions these days become the most important event of the year. You have to think that without vintage there would be no wine.
It begins by pulling the fruit from the vineyard, collecting the grapes in the vineyard and transporting them to the winery where the grapes are destemmed, the best grapes of the harvest are selected and the crushing, fermentation and subsequent pressing is carried out for the extraction of the first wine of the harvest. The time for this is between July and October in the Northern Hemisphere and between February and April in the Southern Hemisphere.
Although there are two types of harvest (manual or mechanical), here we will focus on the manual, since in practically all the wine regions of the world we can enjoy doing this activity as a family.
We’re going to the harvest!
We will ask ourselves what is necessary to bring to carry out this activity. It is important to wear old clothes that we do not mind getting dirty. It is recommended to wear long sleeves and long pants even if it is hot. Do not wear flip flops, or any footwear in which the feet are exposed. It is also important to bring a hat and sun protection, even sunglasses if possible. Do not forget to bring a refillable water bottle and if you keep the water cold, even better. Finally, a sandwich and gloves (totally essential), being the ideal ones that are gardening made of resistant fabric.
Harvest festival
The wineries and wine producers take advantage of the grape harvest dates to celebrate their harvest festivities, where there are usually gastronomic activities, parades, music and of course the traditional treading of the grape.
In Spain we can find festivals of this type in Requena (Valencia), Montilla (Córdoba), Olite (Navarra), Valdepeñas (Ciudad Real), Rioja Alavesa in Samaniego, Jerez, Ribera del Duero in Aranda del Duero among others.
