09/26/2026
Harvest looks a little different at Winter’s Hill this year 🍇
As we begin our 33rd harvest season, we’re trying something new: mechanical harvesting. For the first time, we’re using a mechanical harvester to pick fruit from part of our newest vineyard, where the wider spacing and gentle slope make it a good fit for this technique.
The machine moves over the row using flexible rods to gently remove the grapes from the vines. We were impressed by how gentle the process was—the trunks experienced very little shaking, the canes remained intact, and the leaves stayed on the vines.
The machine-picked fruit will go into our Rosé of Pinot Noir and a few experimental Pinot Noir batches, while our older vineyards will continue to be hand-harvested.
A small w**ery is a wonderful combination of tradition and new ideas. 🍷
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