As vineyards across the Northern Hemisphere begin to harvest their grapes, we’re putting a spotlight on some of the Sectormentor reports that act as a guide in the run up to harvest, as well supporting the monitoring of your harvest as it comes in.
The Harvest Report
The Harvest Report allows you to monitor how well your harvest is going; are your yields matching up to your yield prediction? How far through harvest are you? The Harvest Report uses the yields recorded in each block to show how much you have harvested so far each day.
It also compares each block with your yield predictions, so you can easily see which blocks have yielded more or less than expected. These calculations adjust as additional data is added throughout the harvesting season.
After harvest, you can then understand how successful your harvest has been: what were your yields per hectare? Which blocks didn’t yield so well this year? Why might this be? We see this report as a compass; it gives tangible insight into the productivity of each block, and allows your vineyard team to see where changes need to be made to maximise the success of your vineyard; it shows you the direction towards vineyard prosperity.
The Yield Predictor
The Harvest Report shows you your actual yield compared to your predicted yields, which are pulled in directly from the Sectormentor Yield Predictor. This report allows you to visualise predictions block by block, based on flower counts or bunch counts collected while out on the vineyard, alongside bunch weights. Any unexpected losses that come up during the season can be taken into account, so your predictions are tailored to your specific context, and then measured up against your actual harvest weights in the Harvest Report!
Find out more about the Sectormentor Yield Predictor here.
The Grape Ripeness Indicator
The Grape Ripeness Indicator is another key report in the run up to harvest. It shows grape sugar and acidity levels in each of your different blocks, allowing you to pick your grapes at their optimal moment. This information supports a decision on which block will need harvesting next, to prepare a rough harvesting schedule.
Pinot Noir L., Veraison, 24 August 2023.
Top vintner Will Davenport at Davenport Vineyard shared his experience using the Sectormentor Ripeness Indicator with us:
“The ripening process is different every year and choosing picking dates can be crucial to wine quality. Sectormentor’s Ripeness Indicator shows trends in sugar and acid in graph format and previous years can be easily compared. Last Autumn it was immediately obvious that our sugar levels weren’t increasing whilst acidity levels were dropping in certain blocks – we knew it was going to rain all week, so we were able to quickly make the decision to pick sooner in those areas and avoid increased disease pressure. I feel confident we harvested just at the right time producing higher quality grapes as a result.”
– Will Davenport, Davenport Vineyard
Thank you to Will for sharing your experience with Sectormentor, and for allowing us to use some historic data from Davenport Vineyard in this article!
If you are interested in using Sectormentor on your vineyard, or you have any questions for us about the app, don’t hesitate to contact us at info@vidacycle.com – we’re always happy to arrange a call or answer any questions!
