Aldone

2021 in Bolgheri is a particularly rainy winter which provided the vines with the right support during the summer development phase, thanks to the significant increase in underground water reserves.

Spring tended to be cool with peaks of late frosts in early April, reminiscent of the 2020 vintage.

The summer temperatures, dry but never excessive, allowed the grapes to ripen regularly, giving the fruits an optimal state of health and ripeness.

The harvest took place regularly between the first week of September with the younger Merlots, up to the beginning of October with the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.

The 2020 vintage opened with a predominantly mild winter, punctuated by sporadic rains. The month of March, on the other hand, was characterized by unexpected temperatures below the average which reached their peak in two frosts, recorded around the beginning of April.

The rainfall, which began in the third week of the month, officially marked the end of winter and the beginning of spring. The showers that occurred up to the second week of June favored abundant vegetative development.

A hot and dry summer followed. The heat lasted until the last week of September, and then resulted in the regular autumn rains that characterized the weather until November.

This allowed us to carry out a regular harvest starting from the second week of September with the Merlots, and then finish it in early October with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.

Winter begins mild and dry compared to the average and then records a sudden drop in temperatures in January.
The spring started dry, with little rain and rather hot, thus leading to an anticipation of the vegetative restart. In April and May, cool and rainy, they led to a delay in flowering and therefore fruit set, bringing the plants to a perfect vegetative balance to face the summer.
The summer was dry with some precipitation that accompanied the development of veraison, removing the danger of water stress in the plants.
The month of September, hot and dry, guaranteed a slow and long ripening; the plants in great productive equilibrium have managed to perfectly ripen their clusters which showed an excellent average quality.
The harvest began the second week of September and ends the first of October.

2018 vintage showed a cold winter with plenty of pouring rains. Unusually tepid April allowed a proper vegetative growth in all steps helped by a few seasonal raifalls.

Grape achieved a proper maturation. 2018 Vintage gave an amazing balance in the vineyard, faithfully savored in 2018 wines.
Harvest was started on September the 13th and completed on September the 30th.

Once again, 2017 Vintage proved to be very hot and dry, drought season, probably the most extreme so far. Warm and dry winter, only a few days in January were in the temperature average.

March already showed an unexpected and unusual heat which anticipated the bud break. April, still out of the average, brought a sudden cold with night frost danger in the vineyards, which thankfully did not affect us. Summer featured temperatures well above the average from the very beginning and the heat lasted till the end of August.

In these extreme terms, the impact on production would be large, but human work has not only an influence but makes a difference: we worked with practical solutions like emergency watering carried out with proper timing to mitigate the heat effect and avoiding our vines from being seriously water-stressed. Despite the extreme climate condition we picked a great quality grape in 2017 vintage and protected vines from insufficient water supply negative impact which would have shown its implications also in 2018 production.
Regular harvest was started on September the 1st, was completed at the beginning of October.

2016 set off with a mild-tempered winter, with plenty of rains which made a perfect reservoir for the grape during its following development. Great budding, flowering, flower setting.

Rains gave way to a warm, dry, without excesses summer. Daily and night temperatures widely ranged, supporting a proper and balanced ripening of the grape. Researching the phenolyc ripeness we decided to harvest later in the season compared to our standard average picking time, therefore starting on September the 18th and completing it by the end of the month.

2015 Vintage has been pretty positive, we experienced a rainy winter with fluctuating temperatures, from mild to very cold. Vines reached a perfect budding, proper flowering and growth during springtime thanks to favorable temperatures.

Summer was torrid and fully dry till the middle of August when finally rain brought a break thus enabling the grape to complete its growing cycle, getting to perfect maturation in a fresher climate. Middle August rain represented also a proper water reservoir lasting for the following month of September in which we were able to start and unhurriedly complete the harvest.

Grape handpicking started with excellent climate conditions in September on the 12th and ended in the first days of October.

2014 vintage has been unusual in the winter with rain and mild temperatures.
A very dry spring with mild temperatures allowed a normal vegetative development with regular flowering. Starting from the end of July including all August the climate has been unusual with low temperatures and frequent rain. This inappropriate climate has forced careful supervision of the vineyard with leaf stripping and grape thinning operations during all the month of August. Only thanks to this hard work we managed to achieve an excellent balance in the vineyard thus avoiding unexpected molds and taking the grapes in the cellar with the maximum quality.

From mid-September the weather changed with sunny and windy days that allowed us to carry out a calm and relaxed harvest. Unfortunately, due to these climatic events, we lost 25% of the production. Our harvest started on the 23rd of September and it finished on the 7th of October.

2013 vintage has been different from the previous as we had a mild but rainy winter that continued during spring causing a delay in the budding and consequently a non-regular and limited flowering. Therefore, due to these reasons, we didn’t green-prune.

Summersets off with average temperatures till mid-July, immediately after we had 36 C° peaks that dominated the central part of the season, causing a remarkable delay in the maturation of the grapes. This harvest has been, so far, the latest of all as we started the 23rd of September and we completed in mid-October.

2012 Vintage gave a start with a cold but not much rainy winter, followed by sunny springtime helping budding and flowering.

Summer was torrid, with extremely high temperatures in July and August and total lack of rain: we worked hard in the vineyard with targeted measures such as drip irrigation system through which we managed to obtain a proper growth and maturation of the grape.

At the end of August, the beginning of September some rain supported the maturation of the grape leading to a great harvest, which started on September the 11th and ended on September the 22nd.

We had a 2011 rainy winter with mild temperatures.

Springtime with warm, above the average, temperatures, made an early budding. Summer in the average in June and July, August showing hot temperature peaks in the second half of the month. September, sunny, windy and dry made a lovely balanced maturation and a good yield.

Harvest was intense, concentrated in a short time, started on September the 12th ended a few days after on the 26th.

Weather conditions highly helped the grape quality and production thus making 2011 vintage one of the best years in the decade.

2009 winter was marked by rains which lasted till the end of Springtime, beginning of the summer, however, clusters flowering was great and in timing accordance when compared with the average of our territory. Vernal long-lasting rains have represented an essential help to cope with high summer temperatures and warm Scirocco winds.

Our harvest started a bit in advance, on August the 25th, ending on September the 14th.
Middle September rains boosted the conditions for a wide noble rot spreading on The Vermentino clusters left on the vines to overripe, thus getting dry and ready for picking in the middle of November.

2008 Vintage had a wet and cold winter with rainfalls stretching in Springtime all along. Even though budding was excellent, fruit set was held up by fresh temperatures. Summer, very hot and dry from the very beginning till the end.

Noteworthy, the great range of temperatures between day and night, enhancing a proper maturation of our grape. Temperatures dropped in consequence of the wind Tramontana of half September, then sunshine and breezes ensured a great vintage. Qualitative production but not abundant harvest. Grape picking started on September the 3rd, ended one month later, on October the 3rd.

A fluctuating vintage… an early vegetative development caused by the mild winter season without much rain followed by Springtime with normal average temperatures and rainfalls lasting till June.

Summer started with a very dry and hot July, ending in a fresh and wet August, thus balancing maturation and harvest timing. An amazing September, with mild temperatures, wind, and sunshine.
Harvest got started on September the 3rd and ended up on September the 24th.

Winter started and remained mild till the end of January, followed by very cold February and March, causing a moderately late budding.

Amazing weather in June and July brought summer temperatures with some light rain, the latter a good help for the vineyard. August was never too hot and we reached a maximum temperature of 33°C; some very light rains in the middle of the month gave a very homogenous maturation.

Harvest in the average timing started on September the 9th with Merlot grape followed by all selection of grape and was completed on September the 29th.