For the first time Anton and Sergi decided to pick their Chardonnay grapes mechanically. The vines are trellised (a requisite for machine picking) and the small Chardonnay grapes are very time consuming to pick by hand.

The machine basically shakes all the grapes off the vine, whilst the conveyor belt beneath collects them all. The main disadvantage of machine picking is that it produces more juice than hand picking, which could be a problem if the grapes are left in the sun for a couple of hours before being pressed, but in this case, no sooner were they unloaded from the machine, as they were off to the cooperative and unloaded straight into the presses: Elapsed time was around five minutes! To achieve this, they used two tractors, and as soon as Sergi returned from unloading one, the other was ready to depart. On arrival at the cooperative, a sample is taken from each trailer-load for analysis. After weighing in, the sugar content is analysed instantly, and a small test tube sample kept for further analysis (degree of acidity - whether there is any rotten fruit etc). The combination of the two analyses will determine the price paid per kilo of grapes. Usually a price is established per kilo at 10° sugar content. Every degree above ten raises the price by 10% barring deductions for lower quality determined by the second analysis. Hence if last year Chardonnay was paid at around 70 Pesetas per kilo, a tractor load at 11° would be paid at 77 and so forth. This year's harvest came in at between 11.8 and 12 degrees.

Having unloaded, Sergi has to weigh the empty tractor - and rush back for more. The cost of the machine is expensive, and nobody wants it hanging around idle!