The key words of the 2023 growing season were “rain” and “heat.” Both in Maremma and in Chianti, this year’s spring was characterized by frequent brief showers, especially during the months of May and June, accompanied by cool temperatures. The vines started their cycle with a slight delay compared to the trend of the recent years, when the season typically began earlier. Vegetative growth was also slow, facilitating the smooth progress of various fieldwork activities, including green pruning, trellising, cultivation, and soil management.
Similar to the grapevine, the flowering of the olive trees also occurred with a slight delay but was abundant, and led to excellent fruit set. Water was not lacking in this productive year; soils worked and nourished with abundant green manure accumulated ample water and organic reserves, enabling plants to easily overcome dry periods in July and August.
A humid year in organic farming poses one of the most challenging situations for farmers. Investments made in previous years in acquiring more efficient and modern equipment proved to be of great help in managing grape pathogens, particularly Peronospora. The timely application of phytosanitary products and proper canopy management allowed for a fairly effective control of diseases. Nevertheless, Peronospora did cause some damage this year.
After a period of intense heat in July and August, the September harvest yielded grapes with excellent phenolic ripeness.
Consequently, we obtained musts with lower sugar content compared to recent years, resulting in fresher wines with good acidity. The overall quality of grapes and olives harvested this year were good, but due to Peronospora, quantities are lower than in previous years.
In the cellar, we chose to carry out longer and more delicate macerations, managing the extraction of finer and more complex aromatic and tannic compounds from the grapes with greater precision.
The olive harvest season started slightly late due to rains in late October. Lower temperatures and the humidity of the period contributed to obtaining extra virgin olive oil of excellent quality, with floral, herbaceous, and mature notes, good spiciness and sweetness, and few bitter notes.
