Warming up the engines: a few days away to the 2017 vintage
Only a few days and in the vineyards of Tenuta Torciano in Tuscany will begin collecting grapes for wine production with 2017 vintage.
In TENUTA TORCIANO, central Tuscany, drought has always produced great vintages such as 2012, 2011 and 1998 having tuff and alluvial soils that manage to store a certain amount of water in depth, a reserve needed in the case of droughts.
Even this vintage is expected to be a good vintage, also favored by the arrival of the thermal excursion arrived in mid-August, where we have cool temperatures during the night and hot during the day.
There will be a lower amount of grapes produced, about 30% less than the other vintages, caused by the great summer heat and drought in part and the late frosts in the spring, probably a 2017 vintage among the poorest since the postwar period to today, with a drop in wine production around 25%.
Another point to note is that the 2017 vintage is ranked as the earliest in the last decade; so we are anticipating harvesting about 10 days from last year. All generated by a dry and mild climate during the winter, where vine had in the spring an early awakening and emitting of gems and very hot and with persistent drought throughout the summer.
Wine grapes, like all crops, must also be harvested. “When” and “How” are two of the most important questions that winemakers ask each and every year. We try to illuminate the important themes that concern the harvest in our harvest.
Mother Nature manages all forces
Tips for harvest at Tenuta Torciano
The first point is to determine when to start grape harvesting, given that crops are almost always rewarded, the most patient winemakers, those who know how to wait for the beginning of harvest because they are aware that the more grapes remain on the vine, the higher will be The grape sugar content.
When picking white and red grapes
It is usually white grapes that first reach maturation with the red grape and it is always the white grapes to be harvested for the first time, such as Vernaccia of San Gimignano, Chardonnay, Malvasia.
Follow the red grapes like Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz.
Grapes destined to produce sweet wines are also harvested after two months to reach a high sugar level.
How we harvest grapes
In the vineyards of Tenuta Torciano, vintage is made by hand, using shears and crates to hold grapes. This harvesting system is very long, tiring and expensive, but it gives us the opportunity to choose the best and healthy grapes and therefore have a high quality wine production.
We do not use mechanical harvesting as many other companies do.
Harvesting the grapes with the machines does not give the chance to select good grapes from the bad ones, and plant chips to drop the grapes can be dangerous to the vineyards, damaging them, and the materials that are harvested together with the grapes are Of the most varied ones, such as stems, leaves and small animals that are at that moment on the plant.
To conclude the presentation of the trend of the 2017 vintage in Tenuta Torciano and waiting for the new wine, I wish everyone a great vintage.
Author
Luciana Cilemmi
Luciana Cilemmi, deals with Magazine, Style Director and Co-founder of Tenuta Torciano winery and Tenute Giachi wines and the innovative Viviarium Restaurant of Bottega Torciano- Tenuta Torciano & Winery is part of an international reality that is born in Italy by an initiative of Pierluigi Giachi and Luciana Cilemmi, who have worked for years in the Italian wine market , expanding throughout in the United States, managed and controlled by the american company ' Bellavini winery. Luciana Cilemmi was born in San Gimignano to a family of artists specialised in the restoration of medieval buildings. Having completed her technical studies, she now pursues the interests passed on to her by her family, like her passion for artistic objects, in particular works of art created in Tuscany between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. But she reserves her keenest enthusiasm for the historic works completed in San Gimignano between 1100 and 1300. Alongside her love of medieval history, she is fascinated in wines produced from Tuscan vineyards, which, together with saffron and wool, were the most sought-after goods traded by the wealthy noble families of San Gimignano already in medieval times. Luciana Cilemmi left San Gimignano at the age of 21 and embarked on a pilgrimage in search of knowledge and to discover the new winemaking skills and products that were then developing both in Italy and in France. In the meantime she added to her knowledge of wine by attending specialised courses and becoming a master of wine. On returning to Siena, she discovered a wonderful area near Murlo where she fell in love with the tiny, unspoilt village of Montepescini. She bought the estate of Montepescini where, based on the experience she had acquired over the years, she found a particular lie of the land, special climatic conditions and an altitude suited to the creation of great wines. With enormous enthusiasm, doggedness and considerable effort, a reclamation programme was started to renew the terrain which was then used to plant 30 hectares of specialised vines. Sangiovese is the dominant vine, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Years of experimentation and the introduction of new winemaking techniques eventually led to the creation of Luciana di Memmi’s prestigious wines. Some years ago, Luciana Cilemmi succeeded in realising her dream of a lifetime: to return to her home town, San Gimignano. She was destined to buy the historic palace with the medieval tower, which had been owned by the prestigious Useppi family from 1200 to 1927 and had then passed to the noble and historic Chigi family of Siena. The Useppi were a powerful Sienese family who owned several castles. This beautiful medieval building has an elegant and distinctive façade full of Sienese and Pisan architectural influences. If you find yourself in San Gimignano, make sure you visit the Chigi Tower and Palace. Luciana Cilemmi holds regular events in the rooms of the medieval tower, such as the presentation of wines, both from her vineyards and elsewhere, attended by international journalists, experts from the sector and critics. She also organises exhibitions of works of art and paintings, and press conferences on the subject of "Wine in San Gimignano during medieval times”. Visiting the home of Luciana Cilemmi is like re-living an aspect of the past that will not return except through the imagination of those who have believed and continue to believe in this story.
