In the grape harvests, many utensils are used both to facilitate the work and to carry it out with the best safety and hygiene conditions . Hygiene in harvest is one of the critical points that will or will not favor the quality of the wine that we are going to make later.
Below we make a description of the most used utensils in harvests , as well as a purchase proposal for the different products.
All the articles are selected with a technical criterion and knowledge of the vintage task.
1- Vintage scissors
Vintage scissors are conventional scissors but adapted to work. They have an ergonomic handle and a smaller cutting blade specially designed for the work of cutting grapes. We propose three models of different brands and prices.
2- Vintage Gloves
Today practically all manual tasks are carried out with gloves. There are an infinite number of gloves on the market. Its use is suitable especially for varieties that have a dark must such as Garnacha Tintorera and that end up staining the hands a lot and then cleaning is difficult.
We propose from the simplest single-use Nitrile to the most conventional ones suitable for different uses.
Grape cutting knives are tools that have been used for a lifetime. They are the fastest to cut grapes , but at the same time also somewhat dangerous if they are not well known, so we recommend their use together with gloves. They are widely used in our country even more than vintage scissors.
4- Harvest baskets
The vintage carrycot is the tool that has always been used. Initially they were made of esparto, but soon they switched to plastics. They are usually quite light, resistant and easy to wash. It is used a lot in grape vines vintages.
5- Harvest Boxes
Lately, in the harvests of quality wines, the use of plastic boxes has become widespread , to avoid crushing the grapes. The crushing produces the extraction of the must before reaching the winery, so that on warm days we may have an unwanted start of fermentation in the trailer or transport, with the consequent drop in quality of the wine that we are going to make.
I have also seen wineries that use boxes or pallets. It all depends on the level of mechanization that we have and the means available.
In the end, the use of boxes is a guarantee to maintain the maximum quality of the grape that we are harvesting.
6- Hydro cleaners
Cleanliness and hygiene is a factor that is directly associated with the quality of the grape, the must and therefore the wine.
It is necessary to clean every day the utensils that we use in the harvest, from the scissors, knives, baskets, boxes, trailers, tarps…. Everything that is used in the harvest.
We propose 3 professional pressure washers, somewhat expensive, yes, but with the guarantee of the pioneer brand of pressure washers: Kärcher.
You only realize how well these machines work until you try another from other manufacturers. It has nothing to do with it.
It happened to me personally: I bought a brand name duck because I thought it was enough and because I didn’t want to spend a lot, but after the second year of using it… it began to pour water all over the joints, and it was also difficult for me to find spare parts.
I bought the K7 and so far without problems. I use it both to clean harvest boxes, plastic fruit boxes, I wash the car, the tractors, the truck, the van … and even the floor of the warehouse where we work and the truth is that there is no color and I am super happy with it.
