Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/100792
Still, Leigon and other growers aren���t ready to rely on luck. ���What we���re doing is what everyone has to do ��� mechanization in the vineyard,��� Leigon said. ���We���ve got to go that way.��� That means training workers to use the harvesters and keeping machines in mind when laying out rows and deciding what trellising systems to use. Hahn still picks its highend fruit ��� about 20% of its total output ��� by hand, but the remainder is harvested by machine. Mechanization is still resisted in some wine regions, especially at the higher end, but Leigon Bill Leigon of Hahn Family Wines is said the new machines preparing for the future. Photo: Chris can pick as clean, or even Leschinsky cleaner, than a hand crew. He and others suspect the changing labor situation may make mechanization more palatable to resisters. Jim Stollberg, vineyard manager at Riverbench Vineyard and Winery in Santa Maria, Calif., on the Central Coast, has seen fewer crews coming through for the last few years, but said, ���This year was the first year we had to make some changes to our picking decisions.��� He found that the crews that did come through tended to be less skilled and reliable, which made planning more difficult. Stollberg said he had done a ���decent amount��� of machine harvesting already, but found himself in 2012 ���really looking at what we can do in certain blocks to machine harvest.��� Some of his clients prefer handpicking, but, ���I think for the first time ever they are interested in exploring what machine harvesting can be for them,��� he said. ���Is it an option that will get them the fruit when they want it, cooler, and maybe picked at night?��� There will always be a need for hand-harvesting in certain situations, said Stollberg, but if it���s a case of a lot of grapes to pick and not enough people to Jim Stollberg of Riverbench Vineyard do it, ���We���ve got to at least and Winery has seen fewer picking crews during the last few years. explore the alternatives.��� 14 V I N E YARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | Jan - Feb 2013 2013 TIME ON A BOTTLE In a new tweak to label laws, wineries using the ���American��� appellation on their labels now can include the vintage year ��� a small but key change for wineries that typically import grapes. ���It���s been an issue for us for years,��� said Julie Coquard, co-owner of Wollersheim Winery in Wisconsin, which gets some of its grapes from out of state. Wollersheim makes estate-grown wines that are vintage-dated, but until now, the winery wasn���t able to include the vintage on wines made from grapes purchased from Washington state and labeled under the American appellation. (Wollersheim had the option to use the Washington appellation with the vintage year, but chose not to, as the wines are produced in Wisconsin.) Thanks to an Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) ruling that went into effect in November 2012, Wollersheim can now declare the vintage on its American appellation wines. ���We���re extremely happy that (the law) has been changed because it makes a lot more sense,��� Coquard said. ���All of the wines we make are always a single vintage, so we prefer to let the consumer know what vintage it is.��� Michael Kaiser of WineAmerica sees the TTB���s ruling as a victory for truth in labeling. Supporters see the rule as a common-sense change. ���The new ruling allows for more truthfulness in labeling, and that���s something that TTB has always advocated,��� said Michael Kaiser of the trade association WineAmerica, which was instrumental in the adoption of the new standard. w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m