Machine harvesting do's and don't's

DO follow behind and pick up what gets missed - the machine is not perfect and every little grape helps

DON'T follow too close behind or you'll miss the fall foliage and the fresh air in the vineyard

DON'T let the picked grapes sit too long after harvesting - their close contact with the leaves and stems can impart an unwanted 'steminess' to the juice

DO sort quickly, removing as many leaves and stems as possible, as well as any other M.O.G. (Material Other than Grapes)

DO run the grapes through the Crusher/De-stemmer to further eliminate M.O.G.

Finally, DON'T machine harvest unless you are under time pressure! Hand-picking is usually best.