Time from harvest to crush

[gmillercaz]

Hi - I am wondering if there is a rule of thumb out there in the community about how long grapes will stay until they get mashed into must? 2 days, 4 days? Should they be in a refrigerator to keep longer?

Thank you -

 

[Johny99]

Crush as soon as you can after picking. Grapes cease to ripen once picked and spoilage begins. I crush as soon as I haul them to the crush pad, well after coffee

If you have to wait, keep them cool. The worse condition, the less time you have before bad things happen.

One grower I've used in the past kept Merlot in a cooler for me for almost a week. They were high quality fruit, hand picked and fine when I picked them up.

 

[NorCal]

All mine are crushed within a few hours.

 

[Boatboy24]

My grapes are shipped from CA to VA and take at least five days, I'd guess. Add another day or two in the cooler at my supplier. I think they are refrigerated during shipping and each lug has a sulfite 'pad' on top of it.