HARVEST In Idaho’s Wine Country

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROLLING HILLS VINEYARD

By Darby Tarantino

For me, the most wonderful time of the year isn’t Christmas—it’s harvest season in wine country. Harvest is a magical time to reflect on the year’s growing season as it comes to another end of its cycle, a time when viticulturists and winemakers get to see the fruits of their labor in action, soon-to-be bottled poetry, and more importantly, see if the weather cooperated and their yield predictions panned out. While harvest season might evoke fantasies of picking plump clusters of grapes in the vineyard—Lucy and Ethel-esque barefoot grape stomps and sampling an aging wine straight from the barrel—make no mistake, harvest season is a grueling time for winemakers. Just ask their spouses—there’s a reason they’re called harvest widows/ers.

Mornings during harvest season typically begin pre-dawn, when grapes are harvested while the air is cool, the beginning of what will likely become the first of many 16-hour days for those involved. Once the fruit arrives at the production facility, grapes will get sorted and picked through before being crushed. This is where the magic happens. The sugars from the fruit, plus added or wild native yeast, begin fermenting and eventually become alcohol. Since red wine gets its color from the grape skins, the skins and juice will remain in contact and macerate during this fermentation process, letting the flavors and color develop with regular “punch-downs” or “pump-overs,” ensuring that the solids stay submerged in the juice. This process can last a few days, up to a couple of weeks, before pressing off the juice. White wine grapes, however, are crushed, and the juice is pressed off immediately.

Where these red or white wines will age before bottling could be any number of options: oak barrels, concrete eggs, stainless steel tanks, or an amphora. Each one imparts a unique characteristic to the flavor profile of the finished product. Unless oak is used, white wines will be bottled the following spring and are best enjoyed while the flavors are young and bright. Red wines can age in oak, anywhere from six months up to several years. Once the wine is fined and filtered, it gets bottled. This is harvest at its most simple, of course—there is so much more that goes into producing wine. Winemakers are constantly testing and analyzing sugar levels, pH, and fermentation throughout the entire production process, not to mention the levels of sanitation the equipment goes through.

Harvest season and everything that goes into the painstaking process of wine production is truly a labor of love. I hope you’ll consider this the next time you open that bottle and feel a greater sense of kinship to that delicious grape juice you’re swirling around in your glass. Until then, drink well, love often, and stay enlightened!

Want to get in on the harvest action? There are many wineries offering unforgettable experiences this year. Our top pick is the Harvest Wine and Food Dinner with Rolling Hills Vineyards on Saturday, October 14th. For tickets and more information, visit their website: rollinghillsvineyeard.com.