Harvest Vintage 2018

The 2018 vintage was characterized by a long winter full of rainfall. These have re-established a normal water supply of the soil that had been particularly reduced in 2017, which had instead been rather dry. The vegetative recovery was rather slow due to the rather low temperatures and the spring was still characterized, like the winter, by frequent rainfall and low temperatures, suggesting a vintage that would have developed according to "classic" timing and in any case not as early as the previous one.
The arrival of more stable climatic conditions allowed for good flowering and fruit set. For this reason, the 2018 vintage was characterized by an abundant production on all varieties and it was necessary to intervene later with drastic thinning to bring production back to normal values and obtain the usual quality that we seek in our wines.
Starting from mid-July, temperatures rose significantly, which, accompanied by a long period of absence of rainfall, favored a good ripening of the grapes without however determining early harvest times. The month of September, as it has been for some years now, had a favorable climatic trend, contributing to the quality of wines obtained from vines with a medium-long vegetative cycle such as Barbera and Nebbiolo.
Thanks to the drastic thinning, Barbera was a wine characterized by a high concentration of polyphenols and alcohol but with acidity at lower levels than in recent vintages. The final result was therefore that of a wine characterized by great pleasantness, full and surprising drinkability.
The same goes for Nebbiolo, which arrived at the harvest according to the classic timing, i.e. with the beginning of October, and the harvest operations lasted about three weeks.
Unlike the other varieties, the production load was a little lower. Some areas of the vineyard even had few and small bunches. This phenomenon is essentially attributable to the climatic trend of the previous year, in particular to the anomalous heat recorded in the period during which the differentiation of the fruiting buds takes place. However, even for Nebbiolo it was necessary to intervene with targeted thinning in those areas of the vineyard that are regularly a little more productive. The Barolo was therefore characterized by high sugar content (therefore high concentrations of alcohol) but above all excellent phenolic maturity and moderate acidity.
Compared to 2017, which was generally a vintage with more or less costly quality characteristics throughout the Barolo area, 2018 was a traditional vintage that required a lot of attention from winemakers in the management of the vineyard. In general, the 2018 Barolo has much more variable characteristics depending on the area and depending on how the individual producers worked, but in my specific case I can say that I am very satisfied with the result obtained. My Barolo 2018 is a rich, harmonious wine with an excellent predisposition to aging and with a decent drinkability from a young age.