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Now that we have got more fruit in the cellar (we are at about 25% of the harvest), things start to be clearer about 2011 harvest, at least in part.
Sangiovese: the grapes so far harvested will be suitable to Bellamarsilia Morellino. The tannins perhaps are a little green, but the grapes were good and healthy. More Sangiovese will come in the next two weeks to complement this.
Ciliegiolo: seems in line with previous years. Top vineyards, such as the Vallerana Alta, can wait, the vines are doing well and there is no reason to disturb them.
Syrah Podere Adua: good grapes, surely suitable forMaremmante .
Syrah and Cabernet Franc Podere Keeling (what we used to make Finisterre with): 80 quintals of grapes in total, very beautiful, were harvested yesterday and today are in the cellars for fermentation with native yeast ( like all the reds ) and no sulphites. We’ll see how this goes.
Vermentino for Guazza . The same as in the previous years.
Sauvignon fermentation has yet to begin, so it is still too early to say. We hope that we do a good Alture like the 2010.
Grechetto and Duropersico: “What’s that ‘?” you are certainly saying. These are two very old white varieties grown in the area of Pitigliano. It ‘a a very interesting and comples work that we have started, with the help of a young agronomist who is an expert in ampelography (the science of classification of the vines), which provides for the identification and micro-vinification of grapes that are threatened by extinction or otherwise that are going to disappear from this area. They are not the only ones, we still have 3 or 4 variety in the process of being harvested, but do not want to fire all the bullets now, we’ll return to this subject in due course.
As I thought, this year the sampling of the grapes to decide the harvest date was particularly difficult.The grapes harvested so far, luckily, do not have the same sugar content previously estimated. We will see at the end of harvest and, above all, fermentations. The best grapes will probably be picked in the next two weeks.
A note about the work in the vineyard and cellar: this is the last year of conversion to organic farming . After starting to work organically in 2008 (for the vintage 2009), seems like a long time has passed, but finally we made it – and it wasn’t always easy with over 40 hectares of vineyard in many different places – The next harvest,, 2012, is the first that is going to be certified organic. In the cellar, however, we are already ahead: native yeast for all red (for the whites we are just starting with some batches), low quantity of sulphites (2 g metabisulphite for QLE grape), or none at all . Aging and fermentation for the Sangiovese and Ciliegiolo in wooden casks and barrels between 10-25 Hl.
