THE introduction of machine harvesting has been a game changer for one North-West Tasmanian vineyard.
In the past decade production at Ghost Rock at Northdown has increased significantly, with the area under vines doubling during that time.
Ghost Rock vineyard manager Izaac Perkins said they now have 27ha under production at Northdown with a further 3ha more to come online soon.
There is also 18ha of vines under development by the vineyard in the state’s South as well.
Mr Perkins said they started dabbling with mechanical harvesting in about 2017, when the technology was still fairly new to the state.
“The labour side of things can be quite challenging and trying to find enough people,” he said.
“Now we’re at the size we’re at, it’s a lot more cost effective to have a harvester.”
Another major advantage of mechanical harvesting is being able to get the fruit off a lot faster, which can be a significant benefit when seasonal conditions are challenging.
“In terms of trying to handpick 70 tonnes, that would take us a week with about 20 people,” Mr Perkins said.
“Now we can pick 70 tonnes in 14 hours with a machine. So when you’re struggling and tight with weather and everything else that’s going against you at this time of the year, it’s a no brainer for us.”
The harvesters can be adjusted to suit most vineyards.
Mr Perkins said the only consideration was making sure the vines were mature enough to handle the machines going over them.
Average production at Ghost Rock is now about 170-180 tonnes of grapes a year.
“Now we’ve doubled in size we can’t really justify hand harvesting,” Mr Perkins said.
The machines shake each bunch of grapes individually as it moved down the rows to remove the grapes.
It leaves the stalks attached to the vines, which reduces the amount of trash which goes through the sorting table at the top.
That leaves just grapes to be collected in the holding tanks, which are then emptied into picking bins to the transported a short distance to the winery.
Marty Smith from Absolute Viticulture runs two mechanical harvesting machines and works in vineyards across the state.
He said every variety, vineyard and even grape clone picks slightly differently, so being able to adjust the machines accurately is crucial.
“The amount we can change the settings is to the millimetre,” he said.
“We get in and pick a bit then we’ll jump out and see what it has done and then adjust things as we need to.”
Absolute Viticulture bought its first harvester from France in 2016 and Mr Smith said most vineyards that can use mechanical harvesting are now going that way.
“We took a bit of a punt in getting one and we were the first to get into them from a contracting point of view with the new technology,” he said.
Mr Smith said the equipment integrated into their harvesters is what would have traditionally been in a winery when it comes to destemming and sorting the grapes.
“Grape harvesters as a concept have been around since the 1970s,” he said.
“They range from very basic through to one like our new one, which are top of the line and one of only four in Australia.”
The new machine has integrated on-board weighing which Mr Smith said can provide detailed yield data.
“It’s to the point where it can weigh the grapes off each individual vine as it harvests them and provide that information in real time,” he said.
“It’s the only time ever we’ve been able to capture that sort of data in vineyards.”
“Grape harvesters as a concept have been around since the 1970s,” he said.
“They range from very basic through to one like our new one, which are top of the line and only one of four in Australia.”
The new machine has integrated on board weighing which Mr Smith said can provide detailed yield data.
“It’s to the point where it can weigh the grapes off each individual vines as it harvests them and provide that information in real time,” he said.
“It’s the only time ever we’ve been able to capture that sort of data in vineyards.”Mr Smith said this can produce valuable yield information for managers about which areas of the vineyard are performing better than others.
Being able to weigh fruit as it is harvested can also help when it comes to managing truckloads in vineyards where the grapes are being transported to a winery.
Mr Perkins said having larger volumes of fruit coming off in a shorter period does create different challenges in the winery.
“Just the amount that’s coming off and scheduling into press loads,” he said.
“We need to make sure everything comes into the winery in a cycle that suits them and can keep them rolling as well.”
Mr Perkins said despite a wet and cold flowering period in many regions, yields at Ghost Rock this season had held up well.
“I think we’re lucky in this region because we don’t get a lot of extremes like the East Coast,” he said.
“We tend to miss a lot of those big rain events and consistent winds like they can get down there. So we’re lucky enough to just miss a lot of that.”
The vineyard grows a number of different varieties now with pinot noir, pinot gris and chardonnay being the largest.
They also grow resiling, sauvignon blanc and pinot meunier.
“Those are the varieties that are well suited to our area and do well here,” he said.
After harvesting, the grapes are transported directly to the vineyard’s onsite winery. Mr Perkins said demand for their wines is continually outstripping supply.
“We’d happily double the amount we can grow and easily sell that,” he said.
“So it’s just a matter of me keeping the grape production up as much as we can.”
Harvest is now about 85 per cent complete and Mr Perkins said they are hoping for some warm and dry weather to finish it off.
“We’re always playing with the weather, it’s the biggest curve ball,” he said.
“It has been a little bit delayed this year, but overall we’re really happy. It was a challenging season up until Christmas, but we’re finally seeing some pretty good rewards now. The fruit quality is really good and we’re seeing some really good colouring in pinot noir this year.”
One of the biggest jobs in any vineyard is pruning, which Mr Perkins said was crucial part of management to get right as it can have a direct impact on production. Pruning will get underway in early May and continue through until September.
Mr Perkins started his career in viticulture after working part time at the winery while attending university.
“It’s a challenge and I love a challenge and trying to improve each year,” he said.
“I like working outdoors as well, so you can’t really beat that.”
While Northdown is not a traditional wine growing area, Mr Perkins said it was great to see more vineyards being established in the region, which has some definite climatic advantages.