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# [Ripeness samples - sugar, acidity and the ripening curve](https://help.vineyardelf.com/vineyardelf/ripeness-samples-sugar-acidity-and-the-ripening-curve.md)

Two or three weeks before harvest you pick a sample of bunches, measure sugar with a refractometer and often acidity and pH as well. Consecutive samples show how fast each variety is ripening - and that is what the harvest date decision rests on. The **Ripeness samples** screen keeps those measurements in one place and draws a ripening curve from them.

**Where:** VineyardElf menu → **Ripeness samples**

## Adding a sample

The form is built for a phone in the vineyard - it starts with only what you always measure: date, block, variety and sugar.

1. Leave the entry type as **Sample** (the other type, **Harvested**, is described below).
2. Check the date - today is filled in by default.
3. Pick the block. If only one variety grows there, Elf fills it in for you; with several varieties the field suggests those planted in that block's rows.
4. Enter the sugar reading and pick your unit: **°Bx, °Blg, °Bé, °Oe or °KMW**. Elf stores the reading in the unit you entered and converts it for display, so an old refractometer on a different scale is not a problem.
5. Choose the **sample scope**: whole block, selected rows, or a point in a row.
6. Save. For a series of measurements use **Save and add another** - the form keeps the date, block and scope.

## Sample scope

- **Whole block** - bunches from across the block, one reading.
- **Selected rows** - the most common case: you walk a few rows, collect bunches into one bag, crush them and measure once.
- **Point in a row** - start, middle and end of a single row measured separately, to see how much ripeness varies within the row.

## The ripening curve

Each variety has its own line. When several samples of one variety share a date, the chart shows one averaged point with a vertical bar for the spread between the lowest and highest reading.

Below the chart each variety shows its latest reading and the **daily sugar gain** calculated from the last two samples. For example: 21.4 °Bx with +0.3 °Bx per day means roughly five days to 23 °Bx.

Filters above the chart narrow it to a block or a variety, select a vintage and **overlay another vintage** - which immediately shows whether this year is running earlier than the last. The **Chart series** switch changes the view from "by variety" to "by sample scope", showing which part of the vineyard ripens faster.

## Harvest closes the curve

Once a block is picked, add a **Harvested** entry for it - fastest from the button next to the variety below the chart. A vertical marker appears on the harvest date, and the sugar reading from the last sample or from the harvest itself is **suggested later in the batch card**, so you do not retype it.

A variety's curve ends when harvest has been recorded for every block you sampled it from.