The vintage: after a year of work the moment of the vintage finally arrives.
This is a moment when errors simply cannot be made. If picking is too early or too late everything can go up in smoke.

The winemaker follows the ripening of each vine, of each row, tasting, analysing….. One eye watches the weather, and sometimes it needs courage to wait still longer in order to reach perfect ripening, when there is the risk of bad weather ruining everything.

Picking is a job only for expert personnel, so that only the best grapes are collected, leaving any damaged bunches on the vine.

Normally you start with Merlot, the earliest variety, and then white grapes, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon …. and so on until Petit Verdot, the latest variety.

The grapes, once picked, are taken swiftly to the cellars to be processed as soon as possible. The work involved in the vintage is very tiring.

There are no timetables, and when a job has to be finished you stay on as late as necessary.

It is also the most important moment of the year, as well as being a moment of teamwork, rewarding and happy. In fact it is tradition to wind things up with a great feast, to be able to say all together, and with satisfaction, “… this year, too, the vintage is over !”.