discover why our
grapes are pure and delicious
At National Grape,
we’ve earned our reputation for quality over decades
of sustained dedication to uniform standards and quality assurance measures.
That quality comes through – consistently and deliciously –
in every single Welch’s product.
Ensuring the highest quality Concord and
Niagara grapes is a rigorous
and demanding process.
vineyard care
Pruning: All vines must be pruned
to prevent over-cropping. Proper pruning ensures ripe, flavorful, well-colored,
high natural sugar grapes.
Dust Control: Ground cover
is recommended to reduce dust in the vineyards of Washington.
Weed Control: Weeds must be
kept to a minimum in the trellis area.
Insect,
Disease, and Mold Control: National’s strict control of materials
to prevent insect, disease, and mold damage exceeds even the U.S. government’s
E.P.A. standards.
an
example of vineyard care
harvesting methods
Mechanical Harvesting:
To assure freshness and high quality, a vast majority of the grapes
are mechanical harvested.
Cleanliness: Harvesters must be properly sanitized before and
during harvesting.
Speed: Fresher grapes make better juice. That's why the maximum
time we'll allow between mechanical picking and processing is eight
hours; our average is three hours.
Purity: We require that each harvester include an attendant to
remove any extraneous materials as the grapes are being picked. Each
delivery container must be covered at all times except while being filled
in the vineyard.
mechanical
harvesting
receiving standards
Testing: All National vineyards
are pre-harvest tested to determine the optimum time for harvesting.
Inspection: All National grapes are inspected by impartial
government inspectors.
High Standards: Our stringent standards include sugar content,
color, and other quality measurements.
