Another good harvest as sparkling grapes come in

Jackson Triggs winemaker Marco Piccoli has been overseeing this year’s harvest since last Thursday, when workers began bringing in the first grapes of the season.

He’ll be at it until late October, he suspects, and what he’s seen so far of this year’s crop is encouraging.

“So far it’s going well,” he said. “We started picking the sparkling grapes and we’re really happy with the quality.”

Which isn’t to say it’s the best year ever, he said.

“It’s not as good as the 2007 vintage,” he said of what he anticipates of this year’s harvest, but last year’s vintage was remarkable for a variety of reasons he wasn’t anticipating this year.

“It’s better for white wine,” he said of the weather this year, but held off declaratives for the reds–it’s still a little early for that.

The picking will continue as long as nature allows, he said, citing weather reports of “at least 15 days of nice weather” ahead.

Jackson Triggs was one of the first wineries in town to begin this year’s harvest.

Piccoli anticipates 1,300 lbs of grapes harvested for them this season, 40 per cent white and 60 per cent red.

At Inniskillin, the harvest hasn’t started quite yet, though winemaker Bruce Nicholson expects it to start in the next few days.

“It’s certainly shaping up to be a good white season, Riesling in particular,” he said.