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cantrinavendemmia2019

Harvest 2019

posted on 18 November 2019
Autumn has FINALLY arrived. The long and hot Summer 2019, which lasted till October, is now behind us. Now, the weather is inviting us to stay a bit in the house (or in the cellar) and is helping us to think straight…. That past season was, here in our area, one of the strangest and most complicated within recent memory. We found ourselves having to face conditions that were simultaneously both extreme and contradictory. The cold and rains during flowering caused a reduction in the potential crop, and two hailstorms in June and early August caused even worse damage, since they actually halved the crop. Fortunately, we were able to enjoy some fine weather between mid-August and mid-September, that provided the opportunity of gathering good quality fruit for our Sole di Dario and for prioritising production of our crispest wines Rosanoire, Chiaretto, Riné, and Groppello. We are particularly happy with those results. The results for the red wines, on the other hand, are somewhat less clear. To make a great red wine in the most natural manner possible, the grapes must be in absolutely healthy condition, especially the skins, that makes it possible to hold off on starting the harvest. Despite all our efforts, however, we finally decided that it would not be possible to produce the Nepomuceno 2019. One of our first “winemaking gurus” said that the quality, and the “staying power” of a winery depended also on the amount of a winery’s reserve that you can draw on when necessary. That is what makes it possible for us to skip some vintages and draw on the production of better years. Therefore, we will not compromise quality, and we will not make the Nepomuceno 2019, knowing that we can rely on the supply of the excellent last three vintages.
OLDER VINTAGES
It has been our tradition, amply justified by our tasting in May (https://www.cantrina.it/en/2019/06/12/cantrina-una-degustazione-lunga-ventanni-2/), to gather a number of bottles and/or magnums of our oldest vintages. Those of you who might be interested in them can contact us about availability and prices by writing us at info@cantrina.it.
WINEGROWERS MARKETPLACE – FIVI
The main news this year is that the Mercato dei Vignaioli will last three days, extending into Monday, making it possible for industry professionals to attend the event. So, join us over 23-24-25 November at our usual spot: Padiglione del Piacenza Expo, aisle B, number 41. We’ll be waiting for you!
Cristina and Diego

Epiphany 2013

posted on 6 January 2013
Yes, here I am again, now that the Befana, the traditional Good Witch of the Epiphany, has landed. She is bearing you, along with Diego, a full load of our warmest wishes for the New Year, and I personally wish that I too could bring you presents, but can you just picture a Befana scattering bottles of wine while trying to fly her broom at the same time?! So it’s better for the moment that the bottles continue to rest in the cellar, and that way they will be here for you when you come–invitation!–to visit us over the course of 2013 to taste them with us. Now, as far as what’s coming up in the near future …

Harvest 2012

posted on 8 October 2012
It’s incredible: it seems as though we barely finished the 2011 harvest and here we are already at the end of this odd, totally crazy 2012!!! Yes, odd, since what else would be the right word to describe a growing year that started off with such a mild, dry winter that there was no snow, not even on the mountains, followed by a rainy, wet spring that created no lack of problems in the vineyards, which were trying to flower, then all of a sudden it was summer, and one of the hottest of recent years to boot? Hot and dry that is, until heavy rains came during the last stage of the growth cycle. So, changing environment, creeping tropicalisation of our climate? Who knows, but our job as winegrowers, and it isn’t an easy one, is to interpret as best we can what nature sends us, and so…

Crazy weather!

posted on 6 June 2012
Greetings to all of you, just a few months after our last newsletter, here we are again, right in the middle of a new growing season. “We just don’t have real seasons anymore,” has become a set-phrase overused by almost everyone, but it certainly is right on the mark for this crazy start to 2012! December and January were cold and dry, then February was freezing, followed by a March that was almost summer-like. Heavy rains and snow arrived only in late spring, with temperature swings of as much as 10-15oC between one day and the next. All of this crazy weather nevertheless brought the vineyards into very fine growing conditions, with growth that is quite vigorous, maybe even too much, since the vines are keeping us running to keep everything balanced and to monitor the crop.
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