(…read here previous episodes) It is always the very last weeks of the grapes ripening season to determine the final quality of the vintage. The 2020 vintage was not easy from a qualitative point of view although the conditions were excellent up to 3 weeks before harvest. With the late September and early October rains, everything got complicated.
Having a large extension of vineyards, every year we find different expressions in our SANGIOVESE vineyards: this year more than ever the location and exposure of each vineyard have made a difference. The vineyards located in the San Donato area have suffered hail twice and, in these vineyards, the ripening of the grapes has struggled to complete. From the vineyards located in Branca hill we have had elegant and fresh Sangiovese, even if they lack tannic density. The Sangiovese obtained from the vineyards Gabbiano hill – for the most part facing south/east – are all very good with excellent character and spice, there are high gradations but also good minerality.
The MERLOTS are good, more balanced than those of 2019 – in some vineyards the ripening of the grape seeds did not complete as we hoped, in others we obtained a 100% ripe Merlot with excellent acidulous freshness.
CABERNETS express very much the green notes of the variety and slightly vegetal – the sun was missing in the final phase of phenolic ripening… but they are very interesting in character.
This we love: every harvest, even the most complicated years, there are some points of excellence and some varietal characters that are best expressed.
This year we produced 25% less grapes with our vineyards than in 2019 and, also considering the selection of outsourced grapes, we processed 40% less grapes than last year.
The report card _ Vintage: Complicated Quality: Good Quantity: Poor
