Grape growers in our region are wrapping up their harvest for another season, a season that included a lot of Mother Nature’s ups and downs.

A small work crew picked grapes near Thornbury on Thursday, as the harvest wraps up at Georgian Hills Vineyards.

“From there they are brought to the winery, they go into the production process, into the crusher, stemmer, the various pumps and presses,” says Grey Ardiel.

The vineyard likes the yield this season but 2015 has not been without its challenges; which included severe cold. That cold damages some varieties of grapes grown so there will be a smaller crop than 2014.

“We are coming in around 50% or 45% of what we would normally harvest,” says Robert Ketchin.   

Even though this year’s crop is smaller than normal, wine makers have big expectations for this year’s vintage of Georgian Bay wines. That’s because a sunny and warm September which fully ripened the fruit and boosted the sugar content. 

The first time to taste the Georgian Hills’ finished will be next October.