Cosecha: The Grape Harvest in Argentina

Nestled in the shadow of the Andes mountain range, the province of Mendoza, Argentina is blessed with fertile volcanic ash soil, long hours of sunlight, cool nights, warm days and a gravity-fed irrigation system that delivers glacial run-off to the fields. This region is ideal for growing grapes, and viticulture has been a part of the landscape since Jesuit missionaries arrived from Europe in the 16th century.

Immigrant waves from Spain, Italy and France developed large commercial vineyards and introduced root stock from the best European sources. In the 1850s French agronomist Miguel Aime Pouget planted the first Malbec vines in Argentina. The Malbec grape variety which he imported from France adapted particularly well to the climate and soil of Mendoza. When grown in Argentina, Malbec grapes require regular irrigation, proper pruning, protection from hail and frost, chicken or goat manure fertilizer and occasional spraying with a copper sulphate treatment to prevent mildew. If cultivated with care, these grapes have a yield of about 6 tons per hectare. In March as the point of ripeness approaches, the Malbec grapes are tested regularly for sugar content, and when the Brix reading reaches 24, it's time to harvest.

The grape picking crew is made up of itinerant workers from Bolivia and Paraguay. They live in communal barracks-style accommodation for about one month and travel from vineyard to vineyard as required, hand-picking the fruit. This is hard manual labour and the pace is fast. The workers are required to lift and carry baskets that weigh about 20 kilos when fully loaded with grapes.

• The plastic netting that protects the vines from hail storms is lifted and tied back.
• Each worker is assigned a row and the picking begins.
• When a basket has been filled, the worker carries it to the truck, climbs a wooden plank and dumps the grapes into the back of the truck.
• He receives one token per basket from the harvest boss. Collected tokens will be exchanged for pay at the end of the day.
• The crew breaks for one hour at mid-day. The workers wash up in the canal and rinse out the baskets.
• Lunch is cooked on a portable grill. The crew takes a brief siesta, lying in the shade.
• Work resumes and continues until all the rows of the vineyard have been picked.
• The last load of grapes is hauled to the bodega, where the contents will be weighed on a truck scale, assessed for quality and deposited directly into a crusher.
• The workers leave the vineyard, exhausted.

Once stripped of fruit, the vines go into shock. They require heavy irrigation the day after harvest. As the weather turns cooler and hours of daylight shorten, the grape leaves gradually turn reddish orange and fall off.

The irrigation system in Argentina is regulated by a series of reservoirs and dams that allows water from the mountains to flow through roadside canals. Steel gates positioned at the entrance to the fields control the water flow to vineyards and orchards. Water rights are assigned to each farm according to the property size and the type of crop being grown. The legal deed for a producing farm or "finca" includes a specific number of hours of watering time available to the owner on a rotating schedule coordinated with the immediate neighbours.

During the winter months, when crops are not being cultivated, water supply is completely shut off. The dry season is when pruning of the vines takes place. The finca worker trims back any ungainly growth to encourage strong vines and good fruit yield for the next year. The pruned vines are tied to the wires in an esperalda system.

When watering resumes again in the spring, new shoots appear on the vines, promising regrowth and renewal. With daily monitoring, careful nurturing and Mother Nature's cooperation, there will be an abundance of grapes to harvest again in the fall.

All photos by E.Vanderleelie