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Feature Article
Unlike some regions in California, most Napa producers will not be trading in their vine clippers for the keys to a mechanical harvester despite the shortage of workers.
Preserving the Quality of Napa's Prized Grapes
“To get the best quality, there’s no better machine than the eye”
~ Julie Nord, Nord Estate Wines
by
Alan Goldfarb
November 8, 2006
To those of us who study the winemaking process, it is an accepted fact that mechanical harvesting -- picking grapes by machine -- diminishes the quality of the grapes. But we soon may have to toss that conventional wisdom on the compost heap because hand-picking may go the way of the old-world practice of foot-stomping.
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