ChileanJAR

This study aims at determining the relative advantages of mechanical wine grape harvesting in comparison to handpicking. During the 1998 and 1999 harvests, 20 fruit samples were collected directly from the collectors of a self-propelled grape harvester and an equal number from the baskets of hand pickers, with the purpose of evaluating the quality of the fruit that was reaching the warehouse with each harvesting system. Additionally, field data were also collected relative to work efficiency for the harvester and pickers. All these data were complemented with samples taken from the mechanical harvester and hand pickers the same day and from the same vineyard block in the 2000 harvest, with the aim of determining differences in the quality of the wine resulting from the two harvesting systems. It was concluded that the quality of primary material harvested by mechanical harvesting is lower than that obtained via handpicking. However, the wines resulting from either system were rated of equivalent quality, although distinguishable by specialized tasters. One machine-hour, operated in the form observed in the vineyards studied, can replace 70 labor-hours. However, it is noted that this machinery is being operated above recommended standards in the technical literature. If machines were operated according to this standard, the substitution rate would fall to only 37.3 labor-hours. The minimum plantation size that justifies the purchase of a self-propelled winegrape harvester is 140 hectares.