Wine Grape Harvest Timing Notes

By Daniel Ward and Hemant Gohil

It is harvest season and one of the most challenging aspects of wine making is upon us – When to harvest? There is no single combination of physical, chemical, flavor and aromatic composition of grape berries that can be used to decide when to pick, so we need to use our best information and exercise our best judgment. [Read more…]

Delayed Harvest and Extended Storage of ‘Gloria’ Peaches.

‘Gloria’ is a large, yellow-fleshed, freestone, non-melting peach that ripens around mid-August. This late blooming variety, developed by Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station is unique because of its very attractive color, low acidity, distinctive flavor, and very firm flesh. Previously we saw that letting ‘Gloria’ hang longer lets fruit get sweeter and larger. Firm flesh allows for relatively longer hang time on the tree after fruit has reached commercial maturity, providing greater flexibility in harvest scheduling and shipping to growers as well as buyers. We have estimated how long it is safe to let ‘Gloria’ fruit remain on the tree and in cold storage without affecting fruit quality. Studies in two orchards in Southern NJ indicated that; [Read more…]