Today the harvest has officially begun for Sagrivit’s three estates!
A ritual repeated every year, from ancient times to today.
The earliest evidence dates back to 10,000 BC and comes from the Fertile Crescent, where ancient ruins still remain showing that the grape harvest was part of a true religious ceremony of thanksgiving to the gods.
In Ancient Rome, the celebration of wine coincided with the Vinalia Rustica, a festival in honour of Jupiter.
This event marked the moment when farmers began harvesting the grapes with a tool similar to a knife; the harvested grapes were then placed in small containers before being poured into large vats, where they were pressed underfoot – a process that created the must, which then became wine through fermentation.
During the harvest, every other activity was suspended, as the whole family came together to work in the fields. This is the origin of the harvest’s social character, also seen as a time to celebrate and spend time with loved ones.
Traditionally, the harvest takes place in September. In reality, however, the period in which picking begins varies depending on the production area, the climate and the wine one wants to obtain.
In the past, there was no scientific approach to determining the right moment to start the harvest. Winegrowers relied solely on their own experience and knowledge of the grapes, gained through repeated tastings. Today, experience still matters enormously, but there are also many scientific tools that allow the degree of grape ripeness to be established precisely.
Ripening, in fact, brings changes in the chemical and physical characteristics of the berry: for example, an increase in sugar concentration and a decrease in acids. These parameters can be measured with instruments that identify three different types of ripeness:
1- Technological ripeness: as ripening approaches, sugar concentration increases while acid levels decrease.
2- Phenolic ripeness: the riper the grape, the more phenols it is able to release, which are responsible for the wine’s colour and structure.
3- Aromatic ripeness refers to the concentration of aromatic compounds, which increase progressively throughout ripening.
In general, grapes reach the ideal degree of ripeness when the three types of ripening coincide, because at that point in time the grapes are able to express their full potential at its best.
