Harvest 2022: our story
Since ancient times, the moment of the harvest has represented wealth, hope and prosperity: a very important period in life in the cellar, which marks the end of a long phase of work and the achievement of the long-awaited results. In this particular year, the harvest in our vineyards ended on September 23, two weeks earlier than in previous years, giving us a slightly smaller quantity of grapes than in previous years, but a quality of rare excellence!
This year's prosperity has had to deal with a climate marked by drought throughout Italy, accompanied by above-average temperatures. Conditions which have partly limited the quantity of grapes produced and their yield in wine, without undermining the quality of the grapes themselves. The substantial absence of fungal diseases and the dry air of the summer just ended, in fact, guaranteed perfectly developed and ripe bunches, well balanced between acidity and sugar content.
In Veneto we experienced consecutive months of very low rainfall (between -40% and -80% compared to the average for the period) and a summer with temperatures more than 2 degrees above average. Fortunately these conditions have not undermined the quality of the grapes, considered to be of good quality for the white grape varieties and excellent for the red varieties (source: WineNews ).
WHEN IS THE HARVEST PERIOD?
In the 40 hectares of vineyards surrounding our cellar, in the heart of the Preganziol (TV) countryside, the harvest normally begins around mid-August with the harvest of the Chardonnay destined for the production of our Classic Method. The frequent and prolonged incursions of the African anticyclone of this summer season forced us to accelerate the harvest by at least two weeks, consequently also bringing forward its conclusion on September 23rd, with the last hand-picked boxes of Cabernet Franc .
The entire month of August was dedicated to the harvest of grapes intended for sparkling wine production, which require a higher percentage of acidity than sugars: Chardonnay , Pinot Noir and Prosecco . The sparkling wine bases have given way to the variety that will give us our still whites Frater Bianco and barricaded Chardonnay , to conclude with the harvest (always manual) of Merlot and Cabernet Franc for the production of Frater Rosso and Frank!
WHAT STEPS DOES MANUAL HARVEST FOLLOW? DESTEMMING AND PRESSING
After having harvested the grapes by hand and filled all the boxes, we proceed with destemming: thanks to the action of the destemmer, the stems (i.e. the woody part of the bunches) are separated from the grapes. Their contact with the bunches would release unpleasant hints of wood and grass, as well as lowering the alcohol content of the wine given their richness in water and scarcity of sugars. This first "cleaning" operation is followed by the pressing of the grapes: the grapes literally "burst" and release their juice: the must obtained passes into the silos to begin the very first fermentation phase.
THE HARVEST AND THE NEW PERSPECTIVES FOR THE FUTURE
