Vintage Reports

Ampelio Bucci of VILLA BUCCI

For us, this season was very dry, and we were very worried. But what saved us were the old vineyards – at least 50 years and one even 65 years old.

These vineyards have very deep roots in soils with a strong presence of active limestone, but below that, clay, which holds humidity. Thus, the vines stood up well to the heat, also because we are constantly out in the vineyards managing the canopy, ensuring that some leaves protect the grape clusters (We don’t cut the leaves of higher branches anymore).  We’ve also experimented with spraying a bit of kaolin on the leaves and grapes. This thin veil protects the grapes, if only temporarily from the scorching sun. We were also fortunate to see at least a half day of rain on the second day of harvest, which helped a lot. Now the wines are just finishing up their very slow fermentation. We don’t think there were any qualitative consequences from the season – so we are hoping for excellent quality with about 13% alcohol.

Having always done limited quantities – 60-70 quintals per hectare – we won’t even see much of a reduction in quantity at all.

Gianfranco Sabbatino of LE CASEMATTE

An excellent vintage — healthy grapes, rich in terms of sugar and acidity.

Michele Faro of PIETRADOLCE

This vintage was very dry, with sporadic rain in August and early September. The excellent weather in October allowed for healthy, clean, quality grapes in our pre-phylloxera vineyards. On Etna, because it is 800-900 meters (2,625-2,953 feet) above sea level, we didn’t suffer too much during the heat wave. And in any case, we are pretty used to it in Sicily.

With the climate this season, and based on our experience, we expect excellent results in the bottle. We will surely have wines with great character and structure, balanced by elegance and finesse, things that high-altitude volcanic Nerello Mascalese and Carricante are known for.

Alicia Lini of LINI 910

Like most producers in northern Italy, we were apprehensive about the drought and lack of water caused by the absence of snow in 2021-22. But thanks to the rains in August, we attained healthy high-quality grapes. There is a slight decrease in quantity, but the quality of the wines will be excellent.