Vintage Reports

This region saw nice weather with contained temperatures and good diurnal temperature swings. Rainfall was always heavy, but sporadic throughout the season, allowing for accurate water absorption. There was some hail in lower Vulture that did cause some damage. This was however an isolated event, as production was not drastically affected and the vines continued to develop properly. Quality is expected to be extremely high, but quantities will be lower.

Dennis Verdacchia of VIGNETI DEL VULTURE

Basilicata started harvest later than other regions. The white grapes were picked only a few weeks ago while the Aglianico grapes were picked at the end of the month.

As for Aglianico, what we can say is that this will probably be an excellent vintage. We are about 20 days to harvest and to date, the grapes are exceptional. We really expect good results. A strong, robust wine suitable to long aging, just as a great Aglianico wants.

2020 was fairly homogeneous throughout the region, from the foothills to the coast. Winter was rather mild with moderate rainfall, which saw budbreak around mid-April. In the last week of May and early June, an anticyclone from Northern Europe caused temperatures to drop, slowing down the growth cycle, delaying flowering and consequently fruit set by a few days. Some light frost in early June caused some sporadic damage around Benevento and Torrecuso. For the most part fruit set went well. Temperatures went back to normal in mid-June, with hot and sunny days, and this put brought the phenological phases back on track. Good weather in July and August led to excellent ripening.  Quantity is about the same as 2019, and quality is expected to be very high.

Winter temperatures and precipitation were totally normal. The season was regular with some heavy rains in early June with over 90mm of rain over four days and notably low temperatures. There was thus some problems with disease, including grapevine yellows disease, which needs to be carefully monitored. Spring, which was warmer than past years, sped up the growth cycle giving it a 7-10 day lead. Fortunately, the weather was mild during flowering guaranteeing good fruit set. Summer was hot and dry early on. The quality is expected to be excellent.

Andi Puntner  of FRANZ HAAS

This wasn’t an easy harvest, there was lots of rainfall. We carefully selected grapes in the vineyard, reducing quantities. Hail on 25 September and later rains further penalized us. Having said this, we are very happy with the quality.

We began picking 10 September and finished in late October.

This about sums up this very difficult harvest, but as always, our meticulous work in the vineyard and in the cellar will reward us with great quality.