Mr Calabria said winemakers work with growers to ensure the fruit grown on the vine would be alright to end up in the bottle. 

“We look at the quality,” Mr Calabria said.

“We don’t want to pick too early because you don’t get the right flavours, but if you leave it on the vine too long it becomes susceptible to weather and disease.”

A week of wet weather had created a bit of a headache for growers and winemakers. Calabria Family Wines could handle about 600 tonnes of grapes every 24 hours in ideal conditions and had processed about 3000 tonnes so far.

“It’s been hard,” Mr Calabria said.

“We got a lot of fruit in over the weekend.

“We struggled a bit because we hadn’t planned to crush on Sunday.”

Once grapes were harvested, the clock was ticking, according to Mr Calabria. 

“They’re a living thing, so once they’re snipped you need to work as quick as possible,” he said.

The grapes arrived at Calabria Family Wines by truck where they were unloaded and sent through a crusher which separated stems and leaves out. The grapes were then gently pressed to pull out the juice and chilled. For red wine, the skins were left in to provide colour whereas white wines had the skins removed.

“We inspect all the way through,” Mr Calabria said.

“On the vine, we look at how ripe the grapes are and how much sugar is in them.

“While they’re in the fermenters we check the wine daily and analyse it to make sure everything is going smoothly.”

Calabria’s fermenters ranged in size from 10 tonnes to 200 tonnes, so ensuring a smooth fermentation was important to reduce waste.

“Ultimately, it’s about quality,” Mr Calabria said.

“We’re working with growers to make sure we get the best fruit we can to make the best wine we can.

“We didn’t put out a Durif in 2011 because it wasn't up to scratch. Better to miss a year than ruin your reputation.”