THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 14, 1995 TAG: 9509160362
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, BUSINESS WEEKLY
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
Sunlight peeked through the clouds. A trio of field hands rolled back the nets protecting the grape trellises in the vineyard. Three empty wooden bins stood in a row, almost as if in anticipation of some great activity.
Sunshine blessed the vineyards this summer - pushing the grapes to peak condition. If the clouds had poured rain, winemakers would have no recourse against the elements. Until now.
Technology has transformed the wine business.
For the first time, Williamsburg Winery, the largest winery in the state, has employed machines instead of human labor to pick its grapes.
Although machines eliminate some of the human element of a time-honored occupation, it will help winemakers pick the grapes closer to their optimal time, reduce scheduling lags and produce a better wine.
Row 16 began to quiver.
The trellis vibrated as its vines and grapes shook like windows in the wake of a passing highway truck. A blast of air from the tractor-drawn harvester kicked up dirt and leaves behind it. In five minutes, an entire row of grapes had been plucked, with only empty stems left hanging from its vines.
Time for the harvest.
Dan Uzelac, the tall, no-nonsense chief operating officer and executive vice president of Williamsburg Winery, marveled at the winery's ability to produce wine year in and year out based upon the capricious patterns of migrant workers. Some years they arrived in late August. Sometimes in mid-September.
``It's amazing we would get through the harvest the way we have,'' he said, leaning against one of the wooden bins along the gravel road that winded around the vineyard.
Begun in 1987, Williamsburg Winery gained notoriety when it won the 1989 Governor's Cup, a silver trophy awarded the wine judged the best in the state, for its chardonnay.
Sales for the $4 million company have grown between 30 percent and 35 percent a year, Uzelac said. It produces 42,000 cases of wines on an annual basis - including chardonnay, cabernet, merlot and Riesling.
The commonwealth's largest wine producer picks its grapes every fall for about six weeks.
In the past, it exercised little control over the harvest.
Laborers, usually of Hispanic descent and among the estimated 14,400 seasonal and migrant workers in the state, controlled the timing and some of the quality of the harvest.
The winery had to schedule migrant workers about two weeks in advance, Uzelac said, because they traveled around the East Coast picking apples, vegetables or tobacco.
They never knew how many workers they would get at the vineyard until they arrived. As few as eight and as many as 20 have completed a harvest, but the average was closer to a dozen.
Workers' experience, speed and knowledge of grapes differed every year too.
Some did not know how to pick grapes, so workers had to be trained every year. Some were slow.
Use of machinery will reduce the uncertainty surrounding the grape harvest, Uzelac said.
Grapes can be picked at their optimal time, after they're fully mature but before they dehydrate. Wineries had to guess in advance when that would be so they could schedule laborers to pick the grapes, Uzelac said.
``The quality will improve because we can pick it when we want to,'' he said.
Uzelac and Steve Warner, the winery's winemaker, anticipate a good harvest.
The hot, dry summer provided perfect conditions for growing grapes. They matured fully because of the lack of rain.
Fully developed grapes give the wine its flavor and aroma characteristics, Warner said.
``Your wines are only as good as your grapes,'' he said.
In the vineyard, a John Deere tractor pulled the winery's mechanical harvester, a baby blue Braud model made in France, so that it straddled a row of grapes.
Silicon ``fingers'', or interlocking bars, moved back and forth on either side of a trellis. The vibration removed the grapes from their stems. The grapes fell to a conveyor belt at the bottom of the harvester where they were transported to elevators moving to the top of the machine. At the top, they dropped to a perpendicular conveyor belt that dumped them into a metal hopper.
The $50,000 machine took about five minutes to pick a row of grapes.
After two rows of chardonnay grapes were finished, they were dumped into a wooden bin, which holds three-quarters of a ton.
To complete 10 tons a day, the winery would need to fill 15 bins. In comparison, one worker can harvest one ton a day, Uzelac said.
Although Williamsburg Winery plans to use the harvester for only one of its vineyards this year, Uzelac estimates the winery will save about $15,000 in labor costs.
In the future, the winery will rent out the harvester to other vineyards.
Patrick Duffeler, Williamsburg Winery's president and owner, does not view the mechanization of grape-picking as the end of quality winemaking.
``Wine is totally unique because it's not standardized,'' he said.
California's vineyards, where harvest machines are common, advanced the mindset that more research resulted in greater improvements in the final product.
Duffeler could only agree.
``Technology is never replacing people,'' he said. ``It's meant to help people achieve a better end result.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by Jim Walker, Staff
Color photos by Jim Walker, Staff
The winery's mechanical harvester, a baby blue Braud model from
France, can pick a row of grapes in about five minutes. Vibrating
bars shake loose the grapes, which fall into the bottom of machine.
Dan Uzelac, the winery's chief operating officer, left, says the
harvester is better than relying on migrant pickers: ``It's amazing
we would get through the harvest the way we have.'' Winemaker Steve
Warner, far left, looks forward to a good harvest: ``Your wines are
only as good as your grapes.''
by CNB