August is one of the most exciting times in the vineyard. The grapes are developing quickly, veraison is beginning, and the countdown to harvest has officially started.
On Long Island, grape harvest season typically begins around Labor Day weekend. In recent years, we’ve usually started harvesting our first fruit during the second week of September. Until then, our vineyard and winery teams stay focused on one thing: helping the fruit ripen into the highest quality grapes possible.
Over the coming weeks, Ildo, our Vineyard Manager, and the rest of the vineyard crew will continue working across our 54 acres of Certified Sustainable vineyards located throughout Cutchogue and Southold.
We proudly farm 54 acres of Certified Sustainable vineyards through both:
Our vineyard sites are spread across three locations on the North Fork.
Located around our tasting room, this vineyard focuses primarily on red grape varieties, including:
This historic vineyard is the original Lieb vineyard property and home to:
In Southold, we farm an additional 10 acres planted with:
Managing multiple vineyard sites comes with logistical challenges, but it also allows us to grow a wider range of grape varieties across the North Fork’s diverse soils and microclimates.
Over the last several weeks, the vineyard team completed leaf pulling and canopy positioning throughout the vineyard.
Leaf pulling removes leaves around the fruiting zone to:
At the same time, the vineyard crew lifted and secured the canopy wires to properly support the vines through the remainder of the growing season.
Throughout August, we’ll continue evaluating the need for green harvesting, also known as fruit dropping.
This process involves removing excess grape clusters so the vine can focus its energy on ripening the remaining fruit evenly and completely. Green harvesting becomes especially important during cooler growing seasons when vines may struggle to ripen heavier crop loads.
As the month progresses, we’ll also begin seeing veraison across the vineyard.
Veraison marks the transition from grape growth to grape ripening. This is when:
Once veraison begins, bird netting will go up across the vineyard to help protect the fruit from birds as harvest approaches.
At that point, vineyard season becomes a bit of a waiting game.
July was one of the busiest months of the year in the vineyard. Much of the work focused on setting up ideal conditions for ripening fruit.
Now in August, the pace shifts slightly. The vineyard team continues monitoring vine health, canopy growth, disease pressure, and weather conditions closely—but much of the heavy setup work is complete.
At this stage, we maintain careful attention while letting Mother Nature take the lead.
Meanwhile, inside the winery, preparation for harvest is fully underway.
As our winemaker Russell Hearn likes to say:
“Winemaking is 70% sanitation, 20% perspiration, 9% inspiration, and 1% degustation… but only at the end of the day.”
Right now, the cellar team is focused heavily on cleaning and sanitation before the first grapes arrive.
Brad, our Assistant Winemaker, along with the rest of the cellar crew, is busy:
Because once harvest starts around Labor Day, everything moves fast.
And we’re almost there. 🍇🍷
