HARVEST

Harsh winter with below average temperatures but no snow. The rainy spring anticipated a long, very hot and dry summer, but with large daily temperature fluctuations, especially in August. Proper management of the vineyard, against all expectations, found benefits in the rains of September, which lengthened the forecasts of a really early harvest.

Harsh winter with below average temperatures but no snow. The rainy spring anticipated a long, very hot and dry summer, but with large daily temperature fluctuations, especially in August. Proper management of the vineyard, against all expectations, found benefits in the rains of September, which lengthened the forecasts of a really early harvest..

Long and harsh winter with some frosts and abundant snow until March. Spring arrives late, temperatures are low but it is the abundant and incessant rain that characterizes the months of April and May. It rains 2 days out of 3. June brings the sun and temperatures immediately become very high: it is an intense month in the fight against downy mildew. Summer runs away cool and not very sunny. Late harvest but not too much, because September too, alas, is rainy. Abnormal ripening (we harvested the cabernet before the sangiovese….you do it…..). Tastings in the vineyard are fun. Finally a vintage with reasonable alcohol content and great freshness.

Summer already fades in September and October arrives with temperatures below the average. Winter seems to come with momentum, with extraordinary rains and snowfalls before Christmas but, alas, the rainset the rules. Winter is mild and humid. It rains incessantly until April and the constant and intense downpours cause damage to crops and vineyards. In May, the sun finally returns and temperatures begin to rise. It’s a cool spring, with ideal temperatures, clear days and no clouds. The good weather continues until the first half of August, it’s not too hot and the sky is always clear and gives us an exceptional amount of light. Suddenly, after mid-August, temperatures rise up to 40°. Two weeks of torrid heat that dries the clay soils, still damp from the winter rains. The ripening of the grapes undergoes a sudden acceleration: the harvest begins about 20 days in advance and ends quickly. Varietal differences matter little: in less than a month all the grapes are in the cellar. The fermentations are difficult, but the structure of the wine is exceptional. Excellent tannins, already silky and a great concentration of anthocyanins. An exciting vintage.

Warm October we still go to the sea. Winter arrives late, the cold does not make itself felt until February, when the snowfalls arrive, for the second consecutive year, abundant and prolonged, adding up to the last rains, torrential, in November, to load the clays with water and minerals. Good stock for the summer season. Late winter frosts nip the shoots. In March, suddenly it seems almost summer, it’s very hot, the sun is shining … and the temperatures rise above the average. But spring continues, unstable until June. It’s not raining, but the sun is pale. And then, summer arrives: the long summer of 2012 with 5 abundant months of drought, more than 45 days, between June and August, in which the T° rose above 30°C. Scorching heat peaks between the end of July and the first half of August. Luck has it that the sea winds still blow, to bring some refreshment to the men and the bunches. The harvest will be anticipated. All right. The harvest will be short. Less well. The yield drops by about 40%. The quality, to the detriment of all expectations, seems to be excellent, especially for some varieties such as Sangiovese and Syrah. The 2012 harvest began on September 6th.

Winter non shown. This year, little snow falls on the Terre di Pisa and the temperatures remain quite high. On the other hand, the rains arrive, incessant and abundant, which replenish the water resources of the clays of the Valdera. But spring does not show itself. Sometimes even torrential rains and more than rigid temperatures accompany the months of February, March and April. The amount of rain that falls in a month breaks all records. Temperatures remain cool, well below the seasonal averages until the end of May, and the sun barely peeps through the leaden clouds. In June, he finally calms down. The plants have suffered from the long spring rains and still seem dormant, the vegetation is struggling to restart. The flowering, however, arrives on time around the first week of June. But the cold gives no respite and attacks the inflorescences. Rain and low temperatures pave the way for pernospora which keeps us damned until mid-July. Then, suddenly, the heat breaks out. Temperatures over 30 degrees accompany the whole month of August. The grapes, unprepared, burn immediately. We return to the vineyard to try to shelter the bunches from the sun’s rays. September, on the other hand, brings coolness and gentle rains. the alcoholic strengths finally dissolve. It will be a vintage of great elegance.

Winter hasn’t really arrived this year. Without cold and without snow, the vines did not rest and the vegetative recovery was rapid and very precocious. The usual snowfalls gave way to intense and abundant rains, which never left us until the month of August. It’s the wettest year I can remember. Wet and cool spring comes early and the shoots flower early. Everything will point to an early harvest, but the rains persist and the vegetation continues to grow until August. It was a year of intense work in the vineyard, defoliating and trimming, to leave the numerous and juicy bunches in the sun and the sirocco winds. This is our fortune in a year that is disastrous for many. Rains but no storms or hail and always, constant, a sea breeze that dries and gives flavor. Downy mildew is under control. Powdery mildew absent. Sunny September pushes us to take a little risk and start the harvest without anticipation or delay. The first grapes are picked on September 18th.

At the end of the harvest, the rains arrive immediately, intense and prolonged which steal time from the autumn processing. Winter starts mild, but at Christmas temperatures drop sharply below freezing. The vines slowly enter vegetative rest at the end of December. January is cold but no snow and still rain. March heralds itself with very strong gusts of north wind and north wind that sweep away the winter humidity and temperatures, under the clear sun, rise rapidly. The first buds are teased in the middle of the month. Flowering surprises us in early May, well in advance due to unusually high temperatures. Summer arrives in full swing, June and July are months of sunshine, with temperatures over 30 degrees and no sign of rain. The clay keeps the roots of the vines cool and the water reserve saves them from drought and withering, but the harvest promises to be very early. Sangiovese above all, mature with a great career. Then, finally, August arrives with abundant rains and frequent summer storms, which quench the thirst of animals and plants and give us hope for a September full of grapes.

Autumn is mild and sunny. The autumn work in the vineyard proceeds with rhythm and regularity and we arrive in December with good satisfaction from the work done to prepare the vineyards for the new season. But winter is late in coming again. On the contrary, it really doesn’t show itself and the temperatures always remain constantly between 5 and 15 °C. Consequently, pruning is very, very delayed, to prevent a too early vegetative restart and avoid the risk of spring frosts. Spring arrives early but it is unstable and sudden changes in temperature compromise flowering. April is a month of strong and unexpected sunshine and the vineyards grow at full speed. Another early harvest is expected. Summer starts immediately hot and the rains practically stop from the end of May. Sunny but lots and lots of wind and some downpours finally arrive in August, when the sea breezes bring a sudden drop in temperatures at night. It starts early, with the merlot, but at the end of September it gives great balance and the sangiovese reaches full maturity at the beginning of October, as required by the rules. Vintage of great perfumes, full structure and elegance, thanks to the cool night hours and excellent concentrations.

The wave of enthusiasm of the harvest that has just ended is soon cut short by the autumn rains that arrive intensely on the freshly sown green manure. Too bad, however, they will be the first and last of the season. Winter arrives stiff and serious, finally after 4 years of mild temperatures and thin shirts. We are all excited for the coming season, men and vineyards are finally enjoying a well-deserved rest. Pruning begins in the morning frost, late as always. The vineyard is clean, refreshed from the cold, ready. March heralds a sunny spring and temperatures soar immediately. The sun is shining, and it’s not raining. This continues until Easter when suddenly, in the nights between 19 and 20 April, the frost arrives, which burns all the vineyards in the north-east without respect and compromises our Vermentino, Trebbiano and Syrah. But above all it takes away all the enthusiasm painstakingly accumulated in winter. Once the frost has passed, after two weeks of impasse, the sun is back, with temperatures near and above 30° degrees that won’t let us go until August. The crazy vineyards no longer know what season they are in. They grow, stop, restart without a logic or a direction. The water slowly disappears: from the leaves in the morning, from the streams, from the ponds, from the roots. It is not raining. In 6 months from January to August there are 26mm. Clayey soils seem to suffer the most and the vineyards struggle to reach the second thread. The bunches are sparse, the fruits small. On the contrary, the looser silty soils, in June, seem to give us abundant production and luxuriant vegetation, thanks to the rock winds that blow undaunted, mitigating the scorching temperatures elsewhere than in Pieve de’ Pitti, at night, they rarely exceed 20°. In the end, the grapes grown on the clay will survive, and we will be forced to heavily thin out all the vineyards on the sands and silts, to limit the stress of the plants and try to counteract withering. It doesn’t matter if, in the end, the result is of great quality. We, men, vines and bunches, have simply survived.

Finally winter. Cold, sub-zero temperatures and snow. After several hot and dry years, the real winter arrives. We all rest, we and the vines. And in January we begin pruning with high hopes after a suffocating season like 2017. It’s raining…..and it won’t stop. Good for the vineyards, still thirsty after last season’s hot sun, but in reality there isn’t really that much water that comes down from the always gray sky….it rains little and often, almost every day but at the end of the month, mm of rain are not record breaking. Except that, on our clayey soils, after 3 days of non-stop rain you can’t enter anymore. It sinks. And spring becomes long, long. It practically stops raining in June. We mow the green manure at least 3 times. New gems sprout from everywhere on the trunk and cord. It’s all a rush to clean, cut, trim. Work trudges along, downy mildew fortunately does not find a home here and despite everything, the little copper in April and May is enough and more. The vineyard requires a lot of work but time is always short. Grapes in good quantity and above all healthy. The sun finally arrives between July and August, a full-blown summer. It is September and the harvest has not yet begun. It almost seems like a perfect vintage….

The season starts in the worst way. On 29 October a storm rages against the Pieve and causes considerable damage. In the spring we will finish collecting tiles from the vineyards and from the wood…..Anyway, the winter passes on, cool but not cold, or at least not cold enough and in January the rains begin, incessant, without interruption, which slow down all the work in countryside and continue until early summer. The season is humid and temperatures are below average. Such green hills have been never seen in June. Then, miraculously (but not too much) the rains stop and we won’t see them again until the beginning of September. We will remember it as one of the hottest and driest summers. But the clay lands have had a good supply of winter water and never suffer from drought, not even during this torrid and sultry July. A late harvest is expected, given the large delay with which the buds have begun to unfold, but in reality (and with great surprise), from veraison to maturation it takes a moment. Merlot and Sangiovese, which have suffered the most from sudden changes in temperature during flowering, gallop and are harvested without delay. The sly Syrah does not reveal itself until the end of fermentation, showing an unexpected elegance in such a hot year. Trebbiano gives bunches of a shimmering gold colour. Many tastings and long walks in the vineyard are needed to understand what to do. Everyone says it will be a great vintage. The fermentations are linear, long but controversial. At the first pours, however, there is already some great satisfaction. Let them rest.
The season starts in the worst way. On October 29th a storm hits the Pieve and causes huge damages. In the spring we will finish collecting tiles from the vineyards and from the woods…. or at least not enough and in January the rains begin, incessant, without interruption, which slow down all the work in the countryside and continue until the beginning of summer. The season is humid and the temperatures are below average. never have such green hills been seen in June. Then, miraculously (but not too much) the rains stop and we won’t see them again until the beginning of September. We will remember it as one of the hottest and driest summers. But the clay lands have had a good supply of winter water and never suffer from drought, not even during this torrid and sultry July. A late harvest is expected, given the large delay with which the buds have begun to unfold, but in reality (and with great surprise), from veraison to maturation it takes a moment. Merlot and Sangiovese, which have suffered the most from sudden changes in temperature during flowering, gallop and are harvested without delay. The sly Syrah does not reveal itself until the end of fermentation, showing an unexpected elegance in such a hot year. Trebbiano gives bunches of a shimmering gold colour. Many tastings and long walks in the vineyard are needed to understand what to do. Everyone says it will be a great vintage. The fermentations are linear, long but controversial. At the first pouring, however, there is already some great satisfaction.

What about the 2022 vintage…..
It started uphill, with a warm and dry winter. It does not rain between December, January and February. The snow, which often gladdens the spirit and rests the vines, a distant memory. Temperatures are high, too much. And it’s dry. Spring arrives early, the April frost doesn’t keep you waiting but luckily it doesn’t create too much damage. A moderate frost, at least here on the hills.
And then summer comes. Arrives in May. Explosive, torrid, dry.
The landscape changes from gray to brown. Green didn’t happen. Winter crops have not had enough water to grow and thrive.
Spring rains disappeared.
Some rare fast downpour that doesn’t even wet the earth. And it’s sunshine again.
The water reserves at the end of May are already exhausted. The wells are dry.
Temperatures rarely drop below 30°C during the day.
Lucky us, we enjoy the sea breezes, which still blow constantly, gives some relief to the vineyards during the night.
In June grapes are selected , I choose, I sacrifice…..the risk is that water stress irreparably conditions the ripening.
Let’s start talking about a very early harvest.
July it’s sunny.
August sunny. The harvests begin almost everywhere.
But something else happened at Pieve de’ Pitti. At the end of July, when the situation seemed compromised and there weren’t any miraculous rains on the horizon, the grapes suddenly stopped to ripen.
Technological maturation has come to a sudden halt.
As if the vineyard had gone on standby.

And the harvest, started in early September as usual and ended in mid October, has been a miracle.

A good winter, finaly.
Quite Cold, with gentle and regular rain. Unfortunately without snow but that’s enough, compared to previous years, too hot and dry.
Spring arrived with a light step, with temperatures in line with the seasonal average and this year, we also escaped the traditional April frost.
Unexpectedly, a cold and rainy May. Excellent for water reserves, which are always scarce. Excellent for flowering, which has not suffered from sudden changes in temperature.

Or at least that’s what we thought. The rains in May have been so intense, continuous, incessant. Unpredictable in flow rate and duration. It has rained until the end of June, they didnt cut vineyards slack, becasue they were thirsty but also defenseless.
In fact, during the last hot and dry seasons, our organic vineyards required a very minimal copper treatment. The downy mildew spores, maybe dormant over the last years, have reawakened en masse, due to the ideal conditions and the heavy spring rains. And they left no escape.
The losses in grapes were truly significant, despite all our efforts.
A situation shared by many vinegrowwers, in all those microareas where the climate has really played a bad joke.
Walking through the vineyards this summer was a pain, not only for us but for everyone who visited our cellar and experienced first-hand the power of nature.
The harvest was therefore short, yes the quality of the grapes was certainly very good, but the regret is for what unfortunately remained on the vines.
We will still remember it as a special year, even if not for the best reasons