HARVEST TIME AT TANHURST ESTATE
A CHALLENGING YEAR FOR WINEMAKING
Harvest time at Tanhurst Estate is a vital step in the artisan winemaking process and the culmination of a year’s hard work in the Vineyard, when our grapes finally transform into wine.
2024 has been an incredibly challenging year for us and all the winegrowers in England. Our yield is down by at least fifty per cent because of the weather: a long, wet spring, cool summer and persistent rain in early autumn. However, although we have a smaller crop, we have been thrilled with the high quality of our fruit.
The timing is critical as we need to pick our grapes when they have reached optimal ripeness. There’s a real buzz and energy in the vineyard and winery, where crucial decisions are made hour by hour as we watch the weather and work closely together.
PICKING OUR GRAPES BY HAND
Our grape varieties ripen at different times, all the Pinot Noir, Pinot Precoce and Pinot Meunier were harvested first, with the Chardonnay last.
Making our artisan wine at Tanhurst Estate Vineyard begins with selecting and harvesting the grapes. Handpicking allows us to select only the best fruit and gently harvest each grape bunch, keeping each one in impeccable condition. This is particularly important for our high quality English wines.
That moment of snipping the vine, holding the bunches and carefully placing them in a bucket is a satisfying feeling. We quickly transfer the buckets to crates where they are loaded on to the trailer and whisked off to our winery where they are weighed and loaded into the press machine.
PRESSING THE GRAPES
Wine pressing extracts juice from the grapes, removing the skins, seeds and pulp. It’s a crucial process as the timing and intensity of pressing affects the complexity and taste of the wine.
At Tanhurst Estate we use a bladder press, which is a horizontal cylinder closed on both sides with a sliding opening lid on top. The grapes are fed into the top of the machine by hand. Inside is a rotating drum with a bladder that inflates with air and exerts pressure on the grapes against the sides of the drum. The juice flows out through small openings on the sides of the drum into a collecting tray, and then a holding tank.
FERMENTATION: THE MAGIC OF WINE ALCHEMY
Fermentation is where the grape juice begins to transform into wine. We add carefully selected cultured yeasts to the grape juice which converts the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide, creating wine.
Fermentation also adds colour and aroma to the wine. Our winemaker Salvatore Leone decides which yeast to use along with the timing and temperature of the fermentation. He monitors the proves every day to determine the wine’s final taste, aroma and quality. Getting the balance right is an art that experienced winemakers master over time.