Harvest Report – 2018

~ Cabernet Grapes hanging at Campochiarenti. You can identify the grape by the colored stems and the shape of the leaf ~

**** Update September 28, 2018 ****

Well, we are getting near the end.  The last time we touched base, mostly white grapes were being harvested though early maturing varieties like Merlot were also coming and Sangiovese, from some of the warmest, lowest lying vineyards were also being picked.  As I bring this update – which is as recent as September 27th, harvest is in full swing across Italy with Tuscany and Umbria brining in even more red grapes and regions as far north as Trentino also starting to harvest.  Here is the latest on #Harvest18.

We’ll begin in Chianti Classico with our friend Leonardo Manetti who has brought in Sangiovese.  Manetti’s vineyards are located in Greve in Chianti.

~ Lovely Sangiovese awaiting transport back to the winery ~

And….

~ Hand harvested fruit to be carried into the winery ~

Next we’re going to visit an exciting vineyard producer in Montalcino.  Below is an image that’s about 2 weeks old.  It’s from a lower lying vineyard area and shows Sangiovese Grosso being picked at Cupano.  Even the winery dog gets into the act!

~ Note the rocky, stony soil of the vineyards here at Cupano ~

Sticking with the Brunello production zone; look at these amazing Sangiovese Grosso grapes brought into the winery at Mastrojanni.

Moving further north, we go to Emilia Romagna for a picture sent to us from our winemaker and friend Emiliano Falsini.  These are grapes hanging last week for Lambrusco.

~ Lambrusco Salamino Grapes very close to harvest ~

Recently we published an article featuring Pecchia from Gagliole.  Below are some images sent in from Gagliole.  They began harvesting last week and continue as I type.  Gagliole are making wonderful wines from Castellina and Panzano most of which rely on Sangiovese; but also grow a small amount of Cabernet.

~ This is Sangiovese at Gagliole ~

~ Thumbs up at Gagliole for the Sangiovese being harvested ~

Staying in Chianti Classico, but we’re moving further north to Radda.  These vineyards are elevated fairly highly so the Sangiovese is still ripening but in this picture we see our friend Alessandra Deina of Monteraponi.

~ Trebbiano being hand harvested at Monteraponi in Radda ~

Moving further north still to Trentino, this image was sent over by Anselmo Gonzaga of Tenuta San Leonardo.  Here we are obviously much farther north so we see hand harvesting of Merlot which is used in San Leonardo, the estate’s premier Bordeaux blend.

~ Tenuta San Leonardo harvesting Merlot – September 2018 ~

Finally we return to Montalcino where Il Palazzone sent an image that is tied to the moment.  Il Palazzone began harvesting their lower lying Brunello vineyards last week, but their higher elevation vineyard is still hanging.  Thanks to Laura Gray for the image below.

~ This is Il Palazzone’s Due Porte vineyard. This image is from yesterday and as I spoke to Laura about it, she said they are checking the weather hourly in preparation for harvesting the grapes you see. The humidity has gone and the air is clear in Montalcino so the threat of mold is gone. Il Palazzone is excited about Harvest 18 ~

**** End of Update ****

**** Update September 14, 2018 ****

From the time span of almost a month since the last update, to this which is barely more than a week, a lot has happened.  All across Italy most of the white grapes have come into harvest.  The quality from Pinot Grigio, to Vernaccia and Vermentino is very high.  Someone asked me something interesting the other day.  They said, do you think Vermentino is poised to be Italy’s next great wine?  They meant it in terms of export popularity to the US and I think they may be onto something. Plantings are increasing; there is no doubt whatsoever about that. Every time a winery sends me samples it seems they include a new Vermentino.  In the coming weeks, we’ll be spotlighting a few and discussing the grape in more detail.  Here now, the latest news from #Harvest18.

~ Look at these gorgeous Vermentino grapes being brought in yesterday by Casanova di Neri in Montalcino. While Sangiovese Grosso hangs, the Vermentino and Merlot are being harvested ~

In central Tuscany, some of the wineries are beginning to pick red grapes.  These images sent in by the Cecchi’s are from Castellina in Chianti.  Who can tell me what grape variety this is?  🙂

~ Harvesting at Villa Cerna in Chianti Classico ~

~ From high atop the hill at Villa Cerna, these grapes look nearly perfect. These were harvested September 11th ~

From further up in Northern Tuscany, just west of Florence is the Carmignano DOCG.  These images sent in by proprietor Silvia Vanucci show the beauty of her grapes as they continue to hang. This is Cabernet Franc which she anticipates harvesting during the last week of September.

~ You can see also the rocky, red clay in the vineyards high atop the Piaggia hill ~

~ This is the Il Sasso vineyard on the Piaggia Estate. You can see the grape bunches hanging on the vines just waiting, waiting, waiting…… ~

~ It doesn’t come to look better than these. I would love to reach out and grab a bunch to eat! ~

Speaking of grabbing a bunch to eat – look at this image sent in by Daniele Rosti from Campochiarenti.  The deer have gotten to these clusters… Farming is a passion.

~ Daniele’s red grapes are still hanging, especially the Sangiovese. He recently told me rather simply: “As the grapes ripen they gain more sugar of course. The animals like that! ”  Here you see quite a bit of damage from deer eating the berries  ~

Finally, we add a progress image of Sangiovese Grosso hanging on the Tenuta Il Greppo Estate of Biondi Santi.

~ These grapes look great and likely still have another 2-3 weeks remaining before harvest ~

**** End of Update ****

**** Update September 6, 2018 ****

Well, it’s been almost a month since the last updates of invaiatura (veraison) came in and it has been a very exciting month indeed.  While there have been some scattered and violent thunderstorms, many of which included damaging hail, overall the weather has been hospitable and the winemakers I’ve spoken to are optimistic for an excellent harvest. Naturally, as always there are issues with nature’s pests.  Cinghiale, deer, and hornets have damaged grapes from Piedmont to Tuscany. I saw a photo of grapes that were pecked apart by hornets looking to get at the sugar in the berries. Crazy!  Let’s bring you up to date with some new images.

~ In this photo taken in late August, we see Vernaccia hanging at Campochiarenti. These lovely grapes have been harvested as of this writing and there is a video on Campochiarenti’s Facebook page showing the fermentation. ~

Across Italy, white grapes are being harvested from Viognier in Piedmont, to Vernaccia and Chardonnay in Tuscany and Trebbiano in Abruzzo. The quality for the whites looks excellent. Additionally, early maturing varieties like Pinot Noir have been harvested in Piedmont and Lombardia for crafting Sparkling wines.

~ These are Viognier grapes shortly befor harvest at Rio Sordo in Piemonte ~

~ As always, Harvest is hard work. But there is light hearted fun. The Pepe family is hard at work harvesting Trebbiano in Abruzzo. Grande Chiara! ~

Recently on my Facebook page I shared videos from Famiglia Cecchi and Castell Banfi of Chardonnay and Vernaccia being hand harvested. You can check them out here: www.facebook.com/TuscanVines

~ These Pinot Noir grapes were harvested in Alta Langa at Banfi Piemonte and are destined to become Sparkling wine ~

In Montalcino, Sangiovese Grosso continues to ripen across the zone as hopes for a wonderful Brunello vintage begin to take hold in earnest.  Here are some images of the progress.

~ Sangiovese Grosso at Argiano in southern Montalcino August 2018. Looking good! ~

~ These are Brunello grapes hanging at Sasso di Sole in the far north east of the Brunello zone. This was taken just this week as the vineyard thinned the crop by selecting certain grape clusters to drop – note the fruit lying on the ground. This is a necessary step to allow the vines to more fully develop flavors and complexities in the grapes that remain ~

~ Sangiovese Grosso hanging at Biondi Santi. This is a great shot of an older, unique training system of the vines. Note how the vine forms a “Y” and it is trained on both sides. Also note how it twists like a corkscrew to the left and right. ~

Finally, from the coast, we checked in with Michele Satta who is bringing in white grapes, but at this time, no red grapes.  However, earlier this week,  Tenuta dell’Ornellaia began harvesting Merlot, so the earlier harvest of red grapes will likely soon be underway across Tuscany.

~ Hand harvesting Merlot at Ornellaia. This was taken September 4th, 2018 and you can see the wonderful color and quality of these grapes. Destined for Masseto? ~

Overall, things are progressing well.  We received these two synopsis of the vendemmia thus far from contacts at Banfi in both Piedmont and Montalcino.

In Tuscany

In Montalcino, the harvest began on August 21 with the Pinot Grigio collection. We will then continue with Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and last, not before the next week, with Vermentino. The end of the harvest of whites is scheduled for the end of the first week of September; (wrapping up now as of this writing) and within the same week, we will start with the collection of the early red varieties: Merlot and Syrah. The grapes have a lower but much more balanced alcohol content than that of 2017, with an excellent acid presence that will provide lots of structure and freshness in the grapes.  Thanks to the careful selection of the grapes that, in some cases, show problems due to difficult weather conditions, (mostly intense heat over the last few weeks) we expect good results in the wines.

In Piedmont

The harvest began on 20th August with the collection of Pinot Noir for our Alta Langa. A few days later, exactly on 23 August, we began to harvest the Chardonnay at Novi Ligure vineyards. In the coming days we will continue with Moscato, Brachetto and Cortese, while for Barbera, Dolcetto and Albarossa we need to wait until the end of September. The quality of the grapes are great, with peaks of excellence that make us foresee good results in the cellar.  The winter was rich in rainfall with little snow. The vegetative recovery phase took place in the usual times, with the sprouting that developed in the second half of April. In May, many rains favored the vegetative development that created, at the same time, some problems of vineyard management during the green pruning operations. Between the end of May and early June began the flowering, which had a rather regular course together with a production of more grapes than last year. Summer 2018 was particularly humid and characterized by frequent precipitations, often of a stormy nature.

We will have more updates coming in the next few weeks!

**** End of Update ****

**** Update August 7, 2018 ****

Wow, what a difference a few weeks make!

Right before the initial release of this article was published, the heat got turned to high in Italy and for the better part of the last three weeks, the temperatures have risen into the triple digits.  In other words, the growing season has warmed dramatically and vines, like people, don’t like being shocked.  Gradual increases or decreases in temperature are far easier to tolerate. So it remains to be seen how the vines handle these sort of temperatures.  As of this update, temperatures are expected to rise back into the high 90s tomorrow.  On a good note, there have been plenty of storms to provide water and prevent stress or shutdown on the vines and while that can often include the danger of hail, I have not had any reports of damaging hail storms from producers.  Producers have sent some amazing images over the past two weeks so let’s get to our first update on #harvest18.

~ This is one of the most amazing pictures I think I’ve seen. Sent in by winemaker Michele Braganti of Monteraponi, this combined image shows two photos taken from the same vantage point on the same exact day. The top photo is from July 28th 2017 and the bottom photo from July 28th 2018.

Monteraponi is located in Radda in Chianti Classico and the above was taken from Braganti’s highest vineyard, Baron Ugo.  In the top image, you can clearly see how far advanced the ripening of the grapes has progressed due to the excessive heat during 2017.  You can also see the affect on the foliage of the vines. They appear wilted and almost yellowing.  In the bottom image, the foliage on the vines is a darker green and much more vibrant looking, plus, the grape clusters have barely begun turning color.  Simply an amazing image and a great idea for Michele to capture.

~ Casualties of Quality: Green Harvested Vernaccia ~

The above image was sent by winemaker Daniele Rosti of Campochiarenti in San Gimignano.  Here you can see the results of “Green Harvesting” – reducing the number of clusters on the vines in order for the remaining clusters to better ripen and develop complexity.  This results in a finished wine of much higher quality, but of course, comes at a cost since the grapes lying on the ground will now benefit only deer and wild boar.   This is green harvested Vernaccia di San Gimignano.

~ Corvina ripening at Allegrini in Veneto ~

Marilisa Allegrini sent in the above image of beautifully ripening Corvina at her estate in Veneto.  As I mentioned originally, North vs. South doesn’t have as much to do with the ripening of grapes as one might think.  It’s a factor to be sure, but the altitude of the vineyard, the amount of rain and heat, the timing of pruning during the winter and the varietal itself often play much larger roles.

~ Merlot hanging at Piaggia in Carmignano ~

Coming back a bit further South to the northwestern corner of Tuscany, the above image was sent in by proprietor Silvia Vanucci.   These are healthy Merlot grapes which will typically mature earlier in the season than later ripening varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.  Silvia crafts the best Carmignano and Super Tuscan wines to come from this area of Tuscany and her team has already conducted two rounds of green harvesting to get to this point.

~ Sangiovese hanging July 24th in Greve in Chianti Classico ~

The image above was sent in by winemaker Leonardo Manetti and is of his Sangiovese vineyard located in Greve in Chianti Classcio.  Healthy looking grapes and vines and you can see just the beginning of ripening of this Sangiovese. Contrast this to the Baron Ugo photo above where the grapes were mostly green on July 28th.  That’s four days later, but from a much higher vineyard even though Greve is further north in Tuscany than Radda; though only slightly so.

Finally, we return to San Gimignano for two final images from Campochiarenti.  Daniele Rosti had major damage to his vineyards last year after the Spring frosts in April so he was looking forward to a normal growing season this year.  So far, things have been going well.  The early rains likely helped the vines deal with the heat descending upon San Gimignano since mid July.  As I write this, Daniele told me they expect temperatures in the mid 90s again this week.  Long range forecasts for the next 10 days look to bring some relief.

~ This is Canaiolo hanging at Campochiarenti in the beginning of August ~

~ This is a really cool picture, with the sunlight streaming through the vine and illuminating these gorgeous Sangiovese grapes at Campochiarenti ~

We will have more updates within a few weeks!  Salute!

**** End of Update ****

Harvest Report – 2018

I think it was Sherman Potter who famously said: “Welcome to the New Year, may she be a damn sight better than the last one!”  I can’t help but think that sentiment is shared by many winemakers.  After a turbulent, extreme and destructive 2017 that saw damaging hail and frost, severe drought and triple digit heat,  the more moderate beginning to 2018 was welcomed.

The winter of 2018 brought even and normal amounts of snow and rain to Italy’s vineyards and as Spring dawned it remained very cool and rainy.  The lower temperatures weren’t a concern but the rainfall was much higher than normal. The biggest challenge under such conditions is preventing mold and rot on the vines, but careful attention to winter pruning and canopy management can prevent those calamities.  Toward the end of April the rains moderated, the temperatures warmed and bud break across the regions began normally; and more importantly, in a manner timely enough to prevent concern about frost.  As we now head deep into summer and the regular rains have ceased, many will be thankful for those Spring rains  that have contributed to water reserves in the soil that the vines will happily tap into should the summer remain dry.

Beginning last week, the week of July 16th, producers began sending images of their grapes beginning the process of veraison.  Invaiatura, as it’s called in Italian, means “going toward”; so in this case – heading toward ripening.  What’s interesting to note in this early and first installment of our Annual Harvest Report, is the location of the ripening.  You will see northern estates ripening sooner than southern estates. The main reason for that seeming anomaly is two fold:  First, the grape variety may be one which ripens later and secondly, the vineyard altitude has a significant impact.  We will see examples below.

~ These are Sangiovese Grosso grapes on the estate of Brunello producer Molino di Sant’Antimo. The estate sits in Castelnuovo dell’Abate ~

I was recently able to spend quite a bit of time with Gabrielle Pazzaglia, the interim head winemaker of Castello Banfi in Montalcino.  Given the above picture, we began discussing whether any of Castello Banfi’s grapes had begun invaiatura.  The answer was no.  Gabrielle expects earlier ripening grapes like Merlot and Pinot Grigio to begin ripening early next month.  In Molino di Sant’Antimo’s case – in Italian, Molino means mill. The estate sits at a very low altitude in the far south east corner of the Brunello DOCG.  The vineyards sit on former wheat fields and the area gets very hot. So Molino is about 3-4 weeks ahead of other producers in the region.

~ These are Sangiovese grapes beginning to turn in Chianti Classico on the estate of Querciavalle ~

Querciavalle is in Castelnuovo Berardenga.  Although further north than Montalcino, Castelnuovo is one of the communes furthest south in the Classico zone.  It’s one of my favorite communes to buy Chianti Classico from.  Note the rocky soils of the vineyard. These contribute a powdery, almost mineral aspect to Querciavalle’s wines.

~ A lovely cluster of Sangiovese grapes ripening in San Gimignano on the estate of Campochiarenti ~

Our friend Daniele Rosti sent this image of Sangiovese ripening on his estate outside San Gimignano.  Daniele’s vineyards are very high, so it’s a bit counter intuitive but as you traverse Tuscany, there are many different clones of Sangiovese – especially when you compare to Montalcino – so it’s not strange to see different stages of ripening. These grapes have a way to go and hopefully will ward off Capriolo and Cinghiale.

~ In this outstanding image we see Sangiovese turning in Montepulciano on the estate of Avignonesi. More or less parallel to Montalcino, Montepulciano is further east and gets plenty of early morning sun to ripen grapes ~

~ This interesting shot shows how clusters can ripen randomly throughout regardless of top or bottom and exposure to the sun or relative lack thereof. These perfectly formed grapes are hanging at Casanova di Neri in Montalcino ~

Finally, we move further south to the Tuscan Maremma.  A unique microclimate unto itself where sun, wind, soil and sea form a terroir not duplicated anywhere else in Tuscany.  The estate of Michele Satta, which I chronicled here, sent in this image.

~ Satta’s property lies about as far south in Tuscany as you can get and the vineyards are relatively low lying. Here you can see that much of this cluster has turned. There are many shades of purple and lots of maturing to be done, but you can already see much less green in this cluster compared to the grapes at estates further north ~

Over the weekend I was talking to Enrico Cerulli of the Cerulli-Spinozzi estate in Abruzzo. Since they are further south in Italy I was curious to what extent his estate had seen invaiatura.  Cerulli produces three wines from essentially two grapes; Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and Pecorino.  Enrico told me that none of the Montepulciano had begun to turn.  His estate is very high, but more importantly Montepulciano is a late ripening grape that they usually harvest in October.  This is still the beginning for them.  The Pecorino has started to speckle and by the end of next month or early September he should be prepared to harvest the white grapes.

Finally, the last  image of this first installment comes from another Brunello producer who also owns lower lying vineyards; Castiglione del Bosco

Stay tuned – as always we will have extensive updates to this article as information and conditions permit.  Updates will be inserted at the top of this article and dated accordingly.

Salute! and here’s to a great #Harvest18.