Equivalent to the Grand Final in winemakers’ stakes, the term “Harvest” inked on the viticulturist’s calendar marks a uniquely vibrant and high-octane time of year.
With Pinot Noir’s seductive violets and Chardonnay’s honeyed yellow-green hues, the vines are heavy with plump grapes that have newly changed colour and softened, thanks to the metamorphosis that is veraison.
Harvest in the Yarra Valley is where the whole region comes alive with the shared excitement of winemaking. It’s the time of year that every winemaker and wine lover alike look forward to. But what actually happens during Harvest, and what makes it such a pivotal (and awe-strikingly photogenic) time in the winegrowers’ process? Let’s take a closer look at uncorking this fascinating and illustrious chapter in the life of a bottle of Rochford wine.
Our Premier Pinot grapes grown at our Isabella’s vineyard are lovingly hand-picked and ready to be stomped in small-batches.
The Calm Before the Crush: Vine to Wine
Harvest season is the great determinant to a wine’s quality. Behind the curtain, the vines are carefully tended throughout the growing season, with each variety yielding its own ideal window for picking.
Our 2025 harvest season kicked off last month with our Chardonnay grapes lovingly plucked from their Isabella’s vineyard birthplace. Isabella’s is just one of our three Rochford vineyard sites – each offering a differing taste of the diversity of Yarra soil and microclimates, with our vineyard management centred around balance and sustainability.
Our unique cool-climate conditions produce elegant, nuanced wines, which also means that a meticulous finesse is required to determine exactly when to harvest. Too early, and the nurtured grapes might lack the sugar content needed for fermentation. Too late, and they could over-ripen, leading to overly jammy flavours. Pinpointing that sweet spot? That’s where the magic happens in fruit purveying.
Our juicy Chardonnay grapes are picked and ready to be pressed, and fermented.
Science or Art? The Fruits of Our Labour
Deciding when to pick the fruit is one of the most critical decisions that is made in the harvest process. In the days leading up to harvest, our Chief Winemaker Kaspar conducts fruit sampling in the vines to determine the opportune time to pick. At this time, the sugar content of the grapes is tested in our laboratory, and measured in Brix. This is a primary factor in several key chemical parameters that are determined to guide when to pick our grapes.
When Kaspar decides the moment is right, it’s all hands on deck, as unpredictable weather influencing varying degrees of ripeness plays a critical role in the timing of harvest. We normally begin picking in late February (-this season was particularly extraordinary in its early February kick off, which is not typical at all).
What ensues is an exciting yet intense time, with our dedicated vineyard team working from dawn till dusk (and sometimes de-stemming, pressing, and fermenting until after midnight, as in our 2025 vintage season).
The moment of truth: Our Chief Winemaker Kaspar tasting Chardonnay grapes across different parcels of Isabella’s vineyard in the lead up to harvest
Into the Winery: Pressing and Fermentation
There’s something special about the meticulous care and the attention to detail that comes with plucking each bunch of grapes by hand. Hand-picking is particularly common for our high-end wines. Each cluster is looked at individually, ensuring that only the ripest, healthiest fruit make it into the winery. Machine harvesting, on the other hand, is a quicker process, usually employed for larger yields, and is no less important.
In our 2025 harvest setlist, first were the Chardonnay grapes then Pinot, and lastly Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Shiraz. Once the grapes are picked, it’s straight into the winery for pressing, where the magic truly unfolds. Certain grapes like Chardonnay and Cabernet undergo “crushing,” but we maintain as many whole berries with the Pinot and Shiraz, as whole berry fermentation retains more freshness and features of pure fruit flavour.
For our revered white wines, the grapes are often pressed right after picking, separating the juice from the skins to maintain a fresh, crisp profile. Our Rochford Chardonnay grapes are picked, pressed, and straight into the tank to begin fermenting.
Our Pinot Noir grapes, once picked and de-stemmed, spend time with the skins in fermentation to extract colour, tannins, and those complex, rich and robust flavours that embody our enticing Rochford reds. Our Shiraz and Merlot grape varieties also get de-stemmed and settle into a primary fermentation before getting pressed into another tank, where skins come off. During fermentation, the winemaker is like a conductor, ensuring everything is on track and adjusting the conditions to procure the best result.
A lesser-known fun fact is that certain small-batch grapes are still stomped by foot. As a traditional practice in ancient winemaking, stomping allows for more refined tannins and better integration of flavours.
The Yarra Valley Way: Why Harvest Here is Unique
The Yarra Valley’s cool climate – combined with its rich history and terroir – makes it an ideal place for growing wine grapes. The region’s long growing season allows the grapes to ripen slowly, preserving their acidity while developing complex flavours. The result? Wines that are elegant, balanced, and full of complex character that ignite the senses.
From Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, our rich variety reflects the nuances of the stunning landscape we are uniquely enveloped in. The Valley’s unique combination of soil types, altitude, and its proximity to Melbourne’s moderating coastal influence creates a terroir that is unlike any other in the world of winemaking.
Harvesting Our Story: More Than Just Grape to Glass
While harvest is about procuring glorious wine, it’s also about cultivating the story. It’s a time when friends and family gather to celebrate nature’s bounty, where the connection between the land and the people who passionately work with it, is stronger than ever.
After all, our wine is an expression of place. From the moment the grapes are picked to when they reach the glass, every bottle of Rochford wine carries with it the essence of the land, the hands that nurtured it, and the passion that went into creating it.
For wines that are built to tell the story of place and time, harvest season in our picturesque region culminates as a crucial moment in development.
It is during this pivotal time that every detail, from soil to climate, converges to create wines that are not just a product, but a reflection of the season’s journey, in collaboration with exemplary farming and conscientious vineyard management.
So here’s to harvest, the nuanced cool-climate wines that emerge from it, and the hardworking merlot-stained hands that make it all happen – an ode to the makers, the shakers, the growers, the storytellers. Next time you raise a glass of Rochford wine, give a little toast to the magic of harvest season. Cheers!