Mechanical harvesting

Much of the 2012 Sherry harvest is being collected mechanically. This year, certainly, with the heat wave, conditions are most unpleasant for human pickers, but the machines can work under any conditions, even at night which is actually a better time to pick because the grapes are less prone to liquid loss and oxidation.  A few bodegas own a machine but many simply pay a company with the machines to do their harvest for them. The machines start with the regions which harvest earliest then move on to the next, working Northwards generally.

The machine can pick at least 100 times as much as a man, and because it works by vibration, it harvests only grapes, not the stalks. After the wine harvests, the machine can be adjusted to then pick olives in November. Machines now pick more grapes than humans because they are simply more efficient. The days of hundreds of jolly pickers singing and chattering as they snip each bunch are almost gone. Use of machines depends on the terrain of course, and it should be borne in mind that the vines need to be planted and trained according to the abilities of the machines. It was in the 1980s when machines first appeared in Jerez, but they were never used generally as they were prone to damage the vines. Now in the 21^st century they have improved dramatically and are used much more widely. This is a worldwide trend, and Spain is only now beginning to catch up with about 200 machines, where France, with less land under vine has about 4,000.