Why We Hand-Harvest at Iron Hub
At Iron Hub Winery & Distillery, quality starts in the vineyard. That’s why every grape we harvest is picked by hand.
In this video, winemaker Spencer Jones explains that hand-harvesting allows the team to begin sorting fruit as it comes off the vine. Unlike machine harvesting, which collects everything at once, hand-picking gives our crew the opportunity to carefully inspect the fruit and select the best clusters.
Hand-harvesting is also gentler on the vines. By carefully removing the fruit, we help protect the vineyard’s long-term health while ensuring the grapes arrive at the winery in excellent condition.
The attention to detail continues throughout harvest. Once the fruit is placed in bins, our team removes leaves and other vineyard material. The grapes are then sorted a second time on the crush pad before processing begins. This extra step helps ensure that only high-quality fruit moves forward into the winemaking process.
While hand-harvesting requires more time and effort, we believe the results are worth it. Careful fruit selection, gentle handling, and multiple rounds of sorting all contribute to the quality of the wines we produce.
From the vineyard to the bottle, every step reflects our commitment to craftsmanship and creating wines that showcase the character of our estate vineyards and Amador County.
At Iron Hub, great wine starts with great fruit—and that begins with harvesting by hand.