Only a few days left, and the vineyards of Tenuta Torciano in Tuscany will begin harvesting grapes for the 2017 vintage.
At Tenuta Torciano, in central Tuscany, drought has always produced great vintages, such as 2012, 2011 and 1998, thanks to tuff and alluvial soils that manage to store a good amount of water deep down — a reserve that becomes essential in the driest years. This vintage is also shaping up to be a good one, helped by the swing in temperature that arrived in mid-August, with cool nights and hot days.
The numbers behind 2017
A smaller harvest, but a quality one
The amount of grapes will be lower this year, about 30% less than other vintages, caused by the intense summer heat, the drought, and the late spring frosts: the 2017 vintage will likely be among the smallest since the postwar period, with wine production down by around 25%. It's also the earliest vintage of the last decade — harvesting is starting about 10 days ahead of last year, the result of a dry, mild winter that led to an early spring awakening and budbreak for the vines, followed by a very hot summer with persistent drought.
Wine grapes, like any crop, have to be picked at the right time. "When" and "how" are the two most important questions winemakers ask themselves every year.
Tips for harvest at Tenuta Torciano
Mother Nature manages it all her own way
The first point is deciding when to start picking: the harvest almost always rewards the most patient winemakers, the ones who know how to wait, because the longer the grapes stay on the vine, the higher their sugar content will be.
White grapes are usually the first to reach maturity, and they're always picked first: varieties like Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Chardonnay and Malvasia. The red grapes follow — Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz. Grapes destined for sweet wines are picked even later, up to two months on, to reach a higher sugar level.
The method
How the grapes are picked at harvest time
In the vineyards of Tenuta Torciano, the harvest is done entirely by hand, using shears and crates to hold the grapes. It's a long, tiring and costly system, but it lets us choose only the best, healthiest grapes, and so produce a higher-quality wine: we don't use mechanical harvesting, as many other producers do.
Harvesting with machines doesn't allow you to sort good grapes from bad ones, and the shaking used to knock the grapes loose can damage the vines; on top of that, the harvest picks up stems, leaves and small animals that happen to be on the plant at that moment.
To wrap up this look at how the 2017 vintage is shaping up at Tenuta Torciano, and while we wait for the new wine, I wish everyone a great vintage.
