On July 29, 2019, UC Davis V&E Extension hosted a summer program titled “Fermentation readiness: harvest decisions from the vineyard to the winery.”  

We spent the day going through harvest checklists with Lise Asimont, Director of Vineyard Operations, Cakebread Cellars, sharing how she evaluates vineyards, ensures grape quality, and determines potential harvest dates.  Our new UC Davis winemaker, Leticia Chacon-Rodriquez, and Patricia Howe, current post-doctoral fellow at UC Davis, covered harvest readiness in the winery and winery lab, respectively.  And of course, cleaning and sanitation SOPs and implementation are some of the most important preventative steps in a winery to ensure wine quality. The latter was reviewed by Anita Oberholster, the UC Davis CE Specialist in Enology.  Emerita Professor Linda Bisson and current chair of V&E, David Block, covered critical fermentation decisions to ensure success.  

All in all, it was a great day covering many critical grape and wine harvest decisions and helping grape and wine professionals develop those important getting ready for harvest checklists. Until next summer!