From our vineyards in Imola, the first images of the new vintage!
1. Albana / 2. Malbo Gentile / 3. Pignoletto / 4. Sangiovese / 5. Syrah
Apparently the answer to this question would seem to be simple and obvious.
But why is it important to know some of the details linked to the harvest? Why these may seriously affect the quality of the wine and on its value?
In the meantime, let’s speak about the conformation of the vineyards.
In Italy, the “training system” may differ according to the variation in the characteristics of the terrain and the climate.
It is true, it does seem strange to speak about training in regard to vines, but for “training system” we mean the shape that the plant will take on.
In Italy they are:
Then, also the makeup of the soil has an effect. For example, in hill country it is not always easy to carry out the harvest.
To cultivate vines in many regions of Italy where there are steep hills, terracing is created with stone walls that retain the cultivated soil, forming a kind of stairway that follows the curve of the hill or mountain.
This explanation helps to understand why some Ligurian, Valtellina or Campania wines have higher prices, prices that reflect the costs incurred, not only for the annual maintenance, but also for the labour required to effect the harvest.
This introduces us to another aspect of the harvest: manual or mechanized?
The manual harvest guarantees a higher quality of the grapes harvested and of the final product.
The harvester, in fact, thanks to his experience and knowledge, can choose with greatest care the grapes that are found in the best condition and that have reached the level of maturity ideal for the production of a determined type of wine.
Furthermore,the manual harvest preserves the integrity of the individual grape, reducing the risk of dangerous damage to the fruit, with the consequent spillage of the must, and protecting the grape from dangerous oxidation phenomena that would compromise the quality of the wine.
All this depends on the ability, the precision and the sensitivity of the harvester. For example, in the use of small containers that avoid too much crushing of the bunches or ensuring that the wagon into which the grapes are loaded doesn’t heat up too much provoking fermentation of the grape.
Mechanical harvesting is achieved with the use of special machines, called “grape-pickers” that collect the bunches of grapes by stripping the plant.
Compared with the manual method, this kind of harvest considerably reduces both the harvesting time - because the machine is quicker and is able to reap a greater quantity of grapes in a smaller time period - and the labour and production costs.
One can well understand that how the grapes are harvested should be taken into consideration when evaluating the quality and value of the wine.
Tenuted’Italia wines are all produced with grapes harvested by hand in order to better preserve the grapes and the successive processes of fermentation.
When does the harvest normally begin? There is no set date. Fundamentally, the experienced winegrowers, before fixing a start date, make all the necessary analyses to verify the characteristics of the grape (ph, polyphenols etc). According to the type of grape and the level of maturation that one wants to achieve, generally the harvest period runs from August to November.
This year, for example, we at Tenute dItalia, after having effected the analyses, established that the Pignoletto, the grape with which we produce the ISTRIONE and the PIGNOLETTO spumante, had all the optimum values for harvesting. So in the middle of August our team started the manual harvest.
The next phase of the harvest is the winemaking. Remember how one achieves “Red vinification” and “White vinification”?
Click on the link below and have a good read!
[Our] Red Vinification: The Grapes - part 1
How would you answer this question?
There are various reasons that make the moment of the grape harvest one of the most important events for Italians.
The answer lies somewhere between the economic value and the social value that this moment has in the lives of Italians.
Let’s start with the first: The economic value.
According to the 2021 ISTAT data there are about 255 thousand companies that cultivate 636,000 hectares of vines, of which 46,000 hectares produce not wine grapes but table grapes.
For many years now, this makes Italy the principal wine producer worldwide (about 50 million hectolitres per year) so 19 percent of the world’s wine production, and the second wine exporter of wine in the world, both in quantity and in value. A chain of production, according to Coldiretti, resulting in a revenue of nearly 13 billion euro.
Did you know that just 3 of the 20 regions produce 59% of the entire Italian production?
They are Veneto (11.5 million hectolitres), Puglia(10.6 million hectolitres) and Emilia-Romagna(7.4 million hectolitres)
These numbers introduce us to the second aspect that makes the grape harvest so important in Italy: The social value.
The above are not simply numbers.
Behind the 255,000 wine companies there are many more than 255,000 families that with passion and dedication, day after day, carry forward the objective of producing high quality grapes, to highlight the roots of their territory by means of more than 300 types of native vines. They see the harvest as a moment of collective endeavour and social sharing and the achievement of a goal pursued with great commitment and sacrifice.
As a matter of interest: did you know that the oldest wine in Italy and of the whole Western Mediterranean seems to have been produced near the city of Agrigento nearly 6000 years ago? Our “Stella del Sud” line of wine has the objective of honouring the flavours of this ancient land, rich in history and value.
But returning to the grape harvest, because of the atmospheric conditions, this year it started earlier and the first vineyard which we will focus on will be that of the Pignoletto, about which we spoke in our June article.
We are confident that our ISTRIONE of the ‘Santerno’ line will unleash a special floral bouquet, maintaining that liveliness and softness that renders it so drinkable.
How does the grape harvest take place and what are some aspects which the winegrowers should note at the harvest stage?
Follow us in the next article!
Pignoletto DOC Spumante Santerno: the perfect wine for a sultry summer