At Naked, taking you inside the winery is kind of our thing. But this month, we’re going further and bringing you all the action from the frontlines of winemaking: the picking, pressing and tasting at 4am, the well-earned rewards at the end of the day, and the giant blow-outs at the end of the season.
Make yourself comfortable.
Lights out in Priorat: a dramatic opening act
If you’re going to kick off harvest among the sweeping slate slopes of El Priorat, you might as well do it with maximum cinematic drama.
For Franck Massard, day one in Poboleda delivered a surprise hailstorm just as the first crop arrived at the winery. And to top it off, the local power grid threw in the towel, plunging the team (briefly) into darkness. Talk about a high-stress opening act to harvest.
The good news? Day two brought calmer skies. The storm has cleared, the power is back on, and the fruit coming off those legendary slopes is looking phenomenal.
Harvesting on these steep, slate terraces is all about patience and picking each variety at its peak. First out of the blocks is the delicate Garnacha Blanca. Over the coming weeks, the team will hand-pick their way through the rest…
Check out Franck’s winemaker page here
Some of Franck’s dedicated picking squad – organic fruit this good demands to be picked by hand.
Rage against the machines…
When Languedoc winemaker Katie Jones kicked off her harvest, the plan was beautifully simple: no rushing and no big picking machines or crushers.
Just a faithful team hand-picking old vine grapes, so only the best fruit made it into her winery.
Turns out, the machines had other plans. Or rather, the extreme heat did.
With temperatures soaring, Katie’s equipment has gone on strike (a very French tradition). First, the press refused to start. Then the cold unit packed it in. Finally, the refrigerated container gave up the ghost entirely.
Katie has spent more time staring at the insides of broken machinery this week than she has at her beloved vines.
Thankfully, through it all, her team has kept their cool and the stress hasn't transferred to the wines. The reds are rolling in, and the Syrah – against all mechanical odds – is looking magnificent.
Take a look at Katie's page for more updates here and check out the glam side of harvest on her Instagram
Peek inside the belly of the beast (AKA Katie’s winery kit) – a sight she is fiercely hoping to avoid for the rest of harvest.
Nothing like a father-daughter duo
Like Stephen Millier, Aussie-in-California Daryl Groom’s 2026 harvest is his earliest ever.
But this one is different for another reason – Daryl’s working the vines with his daughter, Kara.
They are in a rhythm: grape sampling for one another to check sugar content, sharing the vineyard inspections.
“We each walk separate rows and take our own samples then compare. If similar, we know it’s correct.”
On August 17th they reckoned they had another week until go time. Watch this space.
Check out Daryl’s post here.
Daryl Groom and his daughter share a shot from harvest 2026, following a vineyard inspection during which they tested the sugar levels of grapes ripening ahead of picking.
All’s quiet (ish) in the Southern Hemisphere
While the Northern Hemisphere is picking and pressing, on the opposite side of the world it’s quiet – and cold – according to Kiwi winemaker Nicky Parish.
The vines are dormant but the winemakers? Far from it. This is “the moment we get to shape what's coming rather than just react to it,” she says.
“Everything that happens later… starts from the choices made out here in the quiet, in the cold, right now.”
Kicking off Naked Sonoma’s second harvest
It’s usually my three-year-old daughter who's giddy at the sound and sight of heavy duty machinery. But a few weeks ago that was 39-year-old me.
I was lucky enough to travel from London and visit Naked Sonoma in mid-August, and even luckier that the trip coincided with the early days of harvest in California.
On my final day, a parcel of grapes was due to arrive in the winery where Naked is based. (It will never not be cool that the office is in a winery.)
With about half an hour until I absolutely had to leave, the grapes landed. With hi-vis donated by a colleague (thanks, Sarah!) I did an awkward run-jog across the car park, and watched the whole thing unfold, from forklift to crushpad to tank.
(And yes, I was a little late to check-in at the airport.) – Clare S
Maza at Naked Sonoma
And so it begins…
In Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Country, Mick Schroeter is walking the vines with his Aussie shepherd, Tucker.
Tucker kept his professional opinion to himself, but Mick suspected harvest was about four weeks away.
His Sauvignon Blanc grapes, destined for his fumé blanc, had been through veraison, changed colour from pea green to a lighter shade, and softened, signalling ripening was under way.
A quick bite told Mick they are still a little acidic – as you’d expect – but the yield was looking good, and the conditions, including Sonoma’s classic 35 degree swing in temperature across the day, were perfect for Sauvignon Blanc.
Watch Mick’s vineyard inspection here
Dreamteam: Mick Schroeter and Tucker
