2020 Grape harvest is heading towards another 5-star double-win
2019 and 2020 grape harvest, like identical twins, but different: both worthy of the highest rating but also to be understood in their diversity like 2015 – 2016
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by Donatella Cinelli Colombini
It is always difficult to shine next to a great star: it will be difficult for those running 100 meters after Usain Bolt, it has been difficult for all mathematicians after Albert Einstein and it is difficult for all entrepreneurs comparing with Jeff Bezos from Amazon.
It will be the same for the 2020 vintage. It cannot shine after a masterpiece of a vintage like 2019 even though it is one of the best vintages picked during the last 20 years, without doubt worthy of the 5 stars given to the best vintages in Montalcino.
THE 2020 COVID GRAPE HARVEST
Let’s go in order, by telling you in detail the harvest in the Covid year. The first with facemasks and the necessity to keep at a distance however had had contact, even indirectly with those found positive. It has been terrible to say to two grape pickers to because their kids class was in quarantine <<go home and you can’t come back until you have a negative swab>> and it has been difficult to say to our consultant wine maker Valérie Lavigne << if you cannot have a swab done before leaving France you must renounce in coming>>. The risk of contagion has created as lot of worry, many problems and however a much less joyous atmosphere than usual.
CLIMATE: 2020 GRAPE HARVEST FROM VERY DRY TO VERY RAINY
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There has been a frost during the budding (18-23) at the end of March. To begin with the vineyards seemed unharmed but then we saw that the grapes were decidedly less than usual.
The winter has been very mild and dry. In spring we underwent an attack of powdery mildew in the Fattoria del Colle vineyards and the tractor drivers had to get up really early to spray the vineyards with sulphur before dawn.
In June finally the rainfalls arrived, a really rainy month. The torrid summer began halfway through July and lasted until halfway through September practically without rain except for a nice rainfall at the end of August. Luckily the difference in day and night temperatures has always been great.
The veraison took place at the end of July and the last phase of the grape ripening took place in the heat, especially in September when the daytime temperatures stayed over 32°C. The vineyards were not de-leafed so as to protect the grapes from the sun that did however do some harm.
The problem has been that the rainfall arrived exactly during harvest time and the constant risk of rain forced the grape pickers to an accelerated job, with great anxiety and an occasional prayer.
