This Year's Harvest Yields a Mix

The grape harvest is in full swing across the Northern Hemisphere, as wineries buzz with the noise, smells and colors of grapes being picked, sorted and pressed. It's a heady time. Aromas of fermentation fill the air, and winemakers pray the juice will become wine in time to get the tank ready for tomorrow's batch.

Decisions made throughout the day, every day, during harvest influence how the wine will taste in your glass years from now. So do matters outside the winemaker's control; most notably, the weather in the weeks leading up to and during harvest. Beginning in August, winemakers tend to resemble guilty penitents, constantly scanning the skies for signs of nature's displeasure.

At Chateau Corbin in St. Emilion, in the Right Bank region of Bordeaux, the harvest is a family affair. Anabelle Cruse-Bardinet, the fourth generation of women to run the Grand Cru Classe chateau, recruits her children, Diane, 11, Pierre, 10, and Henri, 3, to help the 15 vineyard workers gather the crop. "The children love this period of activity in the cellar, and they enjoy picking grapes on Wednesday, when there is no school," Cruse-Bardinet said. "Henri eats a lot of grapes in the vineyard, and he might know as well as me when they are ready to pick."

Corbin has 32 acres under vine, mostly merlot with some cabernet franc. Cruse-Bardinet started picking the youngest planting of 2 1/2 acres on Sept. 25, then turned her attention to the older merlot vines. "We have fantastic potential for aroma, tannins and color this year," she said.

Over on Bordeaux's Left Bank, in Saint-Julien, harvest at Chateau Lagrange is not a family affair but is every bit as exciting for winemaker Bruno Eynard. Lagrange, owned by Suntory, the Japanese whiskey producer, has more than 300 acres of vines, and Eynard has memorized the characteristics of each small plot down to aspects of the soil and orientation toward the sun, all of which influence ripeness and whether their grapes become part of Lagrange's top blend.

This year, Eynard rented a high-tech optical sorter to ensure that only the best-quality grapes make it into the fermentation vats. As the grapes glide by on a conveyer belt, the sensor spots underripe, diseased or malformed fruit that can then be discarded. "It is more efficient than a sorting table with eight people, because after a few hours, they get tired," Eynard said.

Bordeaux winemakers are excited this year because August did not bring the heavy rains that diluted their 2007 vintage or the cool, cloudy days that made 2008 a nail-biter (2008 turned out rather well, actually). In fact, Eynard was worried that August was so dry and warm, his vines might shut down and stop ripening. Then a mild rain on Sept. 21 gave the vines a shot of adrenaline. "We got 18 milliliters. Just what we needed for the maturation," he said. He decided to begin harvesting his merlot on Sept. 28, projecting the cabernet sauvignon for 10 days later.

A rainy September gave heartburn rather than relief to Virginia winemakers. "The rain has not been helpful at all, especially for my liver or blood pressure," said Andy Reagan, winemaker at Jefferson Vineyards near Charlottesville. Reagan brought in his white grapes beginning in late August, with promising sugar and acid levels. But the rains are threatening the reds, especially the early-ripening merlot, with mildew. Weather permitting, Reagan said, he hoped to begin harvesting the merlot the first week of October.

Logistics are a major part of the harvest. Winemakers prefer their grapes to ripen in orderly succession, but that is not always what happens. Rick Sayre, winemaker for Rodney Strong Vineyards in California's Sonoma County, is coping with a compressed harvest as several varieties ripen all at once. "We've been waltzing them to the crusher starting in mid-September," Sayre said. "Most of the reds are quite mature and waiting for pickers, empty tanks and trucks to deliver them."

All these factors add to the tension and excitement of harvest. "A winemaker only has 20 or 30 vintages in his career, if he's any good," said Eynard of Chateau Lagrange. "We can't practice. We have to get it right every time."

Dave McIntyre can be reached through his Web site, http://www.dmwineline.com, or at food@washpost.com.