Winemaking season is just around the corner for many of us—those who make wine from grapes—and I’m thus reminded of the old adage that “great wine is made in the vineyard.” And that means planning, lots of planning.
Your plans should include what kind and style of wine you would like to make, where you will source the grapes, and when you can expect the grapes so that your home winery is ready to get-go as soon as the fruit comes in.
These all pose many challenges as your fruit is still hanging on the vines, under Mother Nature’s close watch and control, and you won’t know the quality until harvest. If you source grapes from your own vineyard, then you have a lot more control than if you buy grapes from a grower or via a purveyor where there are middlemen involved. So monitoring “your grapes” and assessing quality before the grapes arrive is pretty much left to chance in many cases. And so you have to work with a reliable, reputable and trustworthy grower, purveyor or other supplier, and be sure of what you buy—that means know your grapes and how much you should expect to pay for specific varieties. If the quality of the fruit is not up to your standards (or contracted terms, if so lucky to be able to do that), don’t be afraid to reject the load. Why make subpar wine with top dollars?
To help you plan your grape winemaking, here are some important questions to ask before buying grapes: Where is the vineyard located? Is it in a warm- or cool-climate region? How reputable is the grower or vineyard? How and when were the grapes packed and shipped? What should I expect to pay for specific grape varieties from this supplier?
Cool-climate grapes will tend to have higher acidity, lower sugar concentration and, quite possibly, different flavor profile and character. Grape chemistry and physiology also depend greatly on how grapes were grown and harvested, information typically not available to buyers. For example, some growers harvest for quantity, not quality, because they get paid “by weight”, and quality suffers as it is inversely proportional to quantity. Quality greatly declines when grapes are harvested at high yields because water content in berries dilutes sugar, acidity, color and flavors, and would result in a lighter, “thinner” wine.
Grapes packed in cases or bushels “in house”, as opposed to in the vineyard, will usually look healthier having gone through a triage to weed out leaves and green or spoiled bunches before being shipped. For cost-saving and expediency reasons, field-packed grapes do not go such triage and will tend to have undesirable elements that need to be sorted out prior to crushing.
Ideally, grapes should be handled minimally and delivered to the crusher as soon as possible after harvest. Grape chemistry, physiology and flavors are always compromised during excessive handling or delayed shipping.
Research the market price in your area for each grape variety to make sure you are getting what you pay for. If the price of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes is expected to be in the US$1 per pound range in your market (premium grapes from premium vineyards typically cost much more), Cabernet Sauvignon grapes selling at almost half the price are almost definitely not genuine.
The next tip is to properly research grape varieties you are considering buying so that, if you want Cabernet Sauvignon, you get Cabernet Sauvignon and not a blend of inferior varieties. For each variety, study the physiology of the grape bunch, berry and leaf, and its expected chemistry and flavor profile. Consult the many books and internet-based resources dedicated to ampelography, the science of description and identification of the Vitis vine species and its cultivated vine varieties.
Once you have found a grower or supplier that can source and deliver your desired grape varieties, choose grapes with great care.
First, perform a thorough visual examination of the grapes. The grapes should look fresh, clean and healthy. There should be no shriveled, spoiled or rotten berries or bunches; reject any batch that does not look healthy. Stems should look green, but not overly green, which could otherwise impart unpleasant, harsh tannins to wine. Whitish residue from vineyard sprays, such as sulfur-based products, should never be excessive, which could otherwise cause hydrogen sulfide problems (rotten-egg smell) in the wine.
Examine a sample of whole grape cluster for shape and size to ensure that they are typical of the variety. Then, take a sample berry, wipe the residues and examine its color, shape and size, and thickness of the grape skin. If the color does not look right for the variety, then it may not be what has been declared.
Ideally, there should be no leaves with grapes when shipped or picked up from a local market; however, if there is at least one leaf, examine its morphology—shape, size, number of lobes, shape and size of serrations, etc.—to get some clues about variety.
Leaf morphology alone cannot provide a definitive answer on variety as it can vary even for leaves from the same vine. This is also very difficult to assess by an untrained eye, so study hard and long.
As a second step, quantitatively assess sugar content in grapes, if possible. The sugar level determines a wine’s potential alcohol level. Ideally, you should also measure acidity and pH, at a minimum, but this is seldom practical. Some growers may provide such data. Growers or purveyors usually don’t like it when winemakers show up with a hydrometer to test sugar content because that means crushing a whole cluster or more of grapes— both messy and a waste. Rather, the best (and most discreet) method to determine sugar content is using a refractometer where only a couple of drops of juice are required, and the reading is instantaneous.
The last and most critical step is the gustatory test, i.e., how do the grapes taste? There is a direct correlation among the grapes’ and wine’s flavor profile, complexity and intensity. Taste a couple of berries while chewing them slowly and (discreetly) spit out the seeds, and let the juice cover the tongue as much as possible. Evaluate flavors, their intensity and complexity along with sweetness and acid balance, and tannin quality. The importance of this assessment cannot be overstated—flavor is as important as sugar and acidity when determining when to pick or buy grapes.
As a last tip, always be prepared for the unexpected. If you buy grapes and you then realize at the crusher or press that the sugar or acidity are off, you will need to make prompt adjustments. That means you should have a good stock of essential additives necessary for making corrections, including sugar (table sugar is fine), tartaric acid for increasing acidity, and acid-reducing additives for reducing acidity. And remember to have a supply of all other additives that you typically use in winemaking including sulfite, yeast, yeast nutrients and enzymes. Draw up a checklist now and order all additives asap; you don’t want to be caught at the crusher with your local supplier out of your favorite yeast.