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Dear Friends,
this year I send you some notes on the Harvest written by Fabio who has been working with me for 2 years during which he wholly experienced all works, and now he is responsible for all commercial movements, and he is the reference point of our clients and agents.
As you know I see my job of producer as a job with ancient roots and modern accomplishment, and in reproducing the scheme of work of a peasant family, I thought of joining young collaborators professionally prepared, where we share our lives and opinions.
Here there are dott.
Galbiati responsible for production and dott. Motta responsible for communication/sale, they are more then my collaborators: together with Cinzia at the cellar, Roberta at the international relations and Monica in the office, every day my wife and I, we work feeling a “family”. The result is not only the really beautiful human and friendly climate among us, but I can tell even surprising in its professional contents. Every single task is done with care and devotion and at the end wines are much better! |
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| Harvest Report 2007 |
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 As it happens every year at the end of the harvest all wine lovers hurry to make classifications. Reading here and there it seems that Harvest 2007 is generally defined as a good harvest, some people say extraordinary, but of very poor production. The history of a wine is a micro-history, made of rains, lands, plants and men who made their choices during their work, where every generalisation leaves out a bit of truth, and therefore we would like to tell our own experience.
To describe year 2007 we need to say that Winter was exceptionally mild, where vegetation started in advance compared to the average, and in March-April the aspect of vines made us fear a very precocious harvest, even before of mid August. In relation with the great vegetative bloom of plants we chose to carefully thin the foliage with Winter pruning, removal of steril canes and thinning clusters fruit less drastic than usual, until we obtain a balance that at the end of the harvest gave as result 1.3 kg of grape per plant.
Summer months, against all general expectations, were instead rather cool, especially at night, and dry, avoiding almost all attacks from downy mildew (probably one of the biggest factor, together with hail, responsible for the poor yield of year 2007 pointed out from the oenologists association on most Italian terroir) and allowing gradually to line up with the traditional times of maturation of past years. Another important factor for the resettlement of the balance of the climate was probably the closeness to the sea that with its effect of accumulation/cession of warmth limits the excess of temperatures. An intense providential rain on August 16th forced us to postpone the beginning of harvest to August 20th, two days later compared to last year. The first valuations of the Harvest are very positive. The whites are really fresh and rich in aromas, the acidity is higher than usual; young vineyards begin to give qualitative fruits, so that next year we expect a great Costa di Giulia, also able to cover all requests. Giovin Re continues to astonish with its by now very personal aromatic character.
Red varieties with earlier maturing, Merlot in particular and Syrah confirmed their tendency to a full maturation, but with fresh characteristics and well balanced. The climatic trend of the Summer months, which lead the grape from the veraison to the harvest, influenced the final result much more than the warmth of the Winter.
Particularly Syrah confirmed once again its complex character, full of facets, invited us to bottle a limited quantity that can lead, in the next 2/3 years, to the release on the market of a label Syrah 100%.
Teroldego is delicate and intense and it confirms it is a very interesting choice even in the terroir of the Tuscan Coast.
As far as Sangiovese is concerned during harvest we chose once again the traditional method that characterised Michele Satta production of his first “Cavaliere”: in a first passage on the most qualitative vineyards we harvested the grape for the Bolgheri Rosso doc and Diambra, leaving a single grape bunch, the most healthy and beautiful, to mature for one more week for the selections. This cunning was possible thanks to the good atmospheric conditions because Sangiovese, being a variety with high acidity and few polyphenols, tends not to concentrate and weighed down with a light over maturation but it subsequently fines its aromatic component. Cavaliere and Piastraia will surely continue their way in quality and personality that from 2004 till today maintain very high levels.
Between September and October we harvested Cabernet S. which evidences once again that it finds here in Bolgheri a really unique terroir to express its characteristics. In particular the last Cabernet that was harvested, in the “Castagni” vineyard impressed us and our oenologue Attilio Pagli for its elegance and its full maturation, with no “vegetal” traces.
A last underlining for the rosato that took advantage of the climatic trend of the year and of the characteristics of Sangiovese of this year, emerging as a pleasant wine but also surprising for its intensity in fragrances and its freshness.
Michele, in brief, confirmed that the qualitative level of this harvest is really high and he keeps on a production at maximum levels that lasts four years. Even when he talks about his personal history, he says he is from year to year surprised by the quality that all his wide range of wines expresses and he is also more and more aware of the technical value that his estate reached over thirty harvests in Bolgheri, in the patient relationship between his work and the land where he works. Also as far as our production is concerned we have to deny that harvest 2007 is the poorest of the last 30 years, thought it is true in some part of Italy, we expect a production of 180,000 bottles.
Fabio Motta
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