2016 Vintage: pure balance
The 2016 vintage could easily be considered one of the greatest on record. Quality was very similar to that of 2015, 2013 and 2011, with the former having very similar climate conditions and ripening temperatures to 2016. This year was, in fact, the earliest ripening we have ever had.
Our vineyards spent the winter in fairly warm conditions and avoided drought due to heavy rainfall from mid to late February. Bud burst commenced a week earlier than usual.
Throughout May we experienced regular rain and sunshine, this brought steady green growth that eventually concluded in quick flowering, between the 30th of May and 3rd of June.
A few showers between June and July slowed the ripening a little, however veraison took place quickly during the last week of July.
Ripening was uninterrupted by rain and harvest saw hot daytime temperatures mitigated by cool, fresh nights with constant dry sea breezes. The vines, having suffered very little, produced grapes with stunning acidity for their sugar levels.
The old vine vineyard of Campo Vecchio was able to properly ripen thanks to its long roots that find water deep beneath the clay and parent rock soil. Ripening lasted through to the night of September 9th.
For our Sangiovese it was one of the earliest vintage on record. Picking was carried out, as usual, at night time, this year between the 15th and the 21st of September. The days of picking mostly matched fruit and flower days and avoided the rain showers before the 11th and after the 21st.
On the 29th of September we harvested our new Petit Verdot vineyard, while for the older Morello vineyard we waited until the 5th of October to allow fruit to reach maximum phenolic maturation.
Despite the large harvest the wines of 2016 express great freshness and bright, fully ripe fruit; reds show intense pigment and great tannin structure, they are already quite pleasant. Importantly, the grapes express the typicity of our terroir, here is a chance to believe in another great vintage, comparable if not superior to 2015.
