Harvest 2022
Harvest is one of the busiest, hardest, most rewarding time of year in the wine industry. Teams in the vineyard and winery are working together day in and day out to ensure they’re producing the best wine they can.
September 6, 2022
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The Maggio family has been in Lodi and involved in the growing community since 1906, and then the winery while it was the co-op since 1934. Generation after generation they have produced grapes that make quality wines. The family plans on continuing to produce quality grapes for generations to come by farming sustainably in accordance with LODI RULES. Oak Ridge Winery’s values don’t end there, you can read more about them here. While the Maggio family has the growing down to a T, Oak Ridge Winery couldn’t operate without our winemaking, cellar, maintenance, and various other on-site staff in the facility during harvest. They are here 24/7 making sure everything is running smoothly. We asked our staff what their favorite part of harvest is – here is what they said.
From Roberto and Andy in the cellar
“I like running the presses. The smell of the grapes coming in and seeing all the juice come out is exciting.” Cellar Supervisor, Roberto
“I’m excited to run the Pellenc system! I enjoy the challenge and attention to detail on the optical system.” Cellar Lead, Andy
What Diana from the lab said
“I enjoy harvest because it is my time to learn new skills. It’s a change of environment from the work we do all year so I’m able to be more involved to the processing and understand what happens behind the scenes to make wine.”
Phil, who is one of our long time Maintenance employees said
“I like harvest because I’m able to see how the improvements I fabricated actually turn out, and what changes I can make to make operations run smoother.”
Finally – from some of our winemaking team
“I’m excited for the new system templates work for winemaking, and how we can improve the system to make harvest easier. I love the smell of the fermenting grapes. I am not a morning person, so the sweet smell of the fermenting tanks makes my day a whole lot better!” Systems Analyst, Gloria
“Harvest is a very exciting time for winemaking. We spend all year looking for ways to make our wine better than the previous vintage. We get one shot to make it right, especially in the smaller programs. The success we have during crush will reflect on the quality of our wines and will be a representation of our workload for the upcoming year. The best part of harvest is that it never truly ends. As soon as you start wrapping up, you begin to plan for the next one!” Assistant Winemaker, Lorena
“The first tank that takes off and carbonates tastes good. It means the season has started. I am excited for my first harvest at ORW. Running the large crush pit as well as the premium winery is going to be double the work but also double the fun! We have a lot of exciting new projects coming your way and can’t wait to share them with everyone.” Chief Winemaker, Laura
