Storyteller

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 mentors” 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.