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Valtellina, Lombardia – a regular growing season, without excesses, with rain when the vines needed it, & little disease pressure. The harvest occurring later than in 2018, giving more finezza & less alcohol.
Alto Piemonte – as per their friends & colleagues in the Basso Piemonte below, 2019 was a classic vintage in the Alto Piemonte, with regular rain showers, no frost or hail (or deer) damage, an importantly warm & dry July, & a perfect September & mid-October harvest. Quantità e Qualità, 2019 is particularly fine in Alto Piemonte!
Roero & Langhe – after a relatively normal winter, with some snow in Jan/Feb, a cold & wet May/June that caused the flowering to be interrupted & hence growth delayed, whilst providing ample water for the season ahead. It was thanks to the relatively cool April/May that growers had time to get behind the vegetative growth. In late June/July there was a heat spike that seemed less problematic/high than other parts of Europe (Iberia & France) but which knocked the vine, disturbed the (phenolic) ripening process & compounded the vegetative delay, pushing the harvest date back by 10 days, with Roero & Barolo starting their Nebbiolo harvest wc 9 Oct, while Monforte, Castiglione Falletto, & Serralunga began wc 14 Oct. Regular rain showers influenced pHs – some 15% less rain fell in 2019, with 21% fewer rainy days, than in 2018 but 15% more rain in 2019 than in 2016! – ensured that the vine was never stressed throughout the year. A regular Sept/Oct season, with notable diurnal shift/temp. excursion (vs. warmer ’18) helping the skins to thicken & phenols to ripen notably from week commencing 7th Oct, with rain setting in from 19 Oct.; peronospera reared its head but no presence of susukii flies. In 2019 skins were thicker, more ‘old school’, with more skin to pulp than in 2018. On 5th Sept. hail swept through La Morra, lower Castiglione Falletto, lower Serralunga d’Alba, Grinzane Cavour & the lower slopes of Diano, Madonna di Como, brushing San Rocco Seno’d’Elvio.
Vintage 2019 in four words: classic, fresh, vertical, sinewy?
Indeed, ‘thanks’ to CV everyone was at home, no flights flew, no cars were on the road, I walked everyday from my Verduno hideaway to Barolo & back, the air was clean, everything felt purified! In fact the 2020 (Nebbiolo) wines – following in the ‘0’ tradition of being round! – have been irresistible from birth, juicy, relaxed, & complete, as if they too needed a (CV) break from the annual grind. Sure, they’re not as vertical nor as sinewy as the ‘19s (that follow the ‘9’ mould), but they have a completeness, & certainly more focus, structure & natural balance than the ‘18s; producers of Barolo may have opted for rimontaggio/pumping over in 2019 (on account of the tannin quality) whereas in 2020 many more will have gone for capello sommerso/submerged cap, rounding off the wine.
After a mild winter, March ‘20 brought a new lockdown in Italia, while May ushered in 10 days of cool rain showers, continuing the trend of ’18 & ’19 (while in ’21, no May rain!), June also was showery, with hail in Verduno on 15th June – a vertical punch that hit the vyds heading towards La Morra (Riva Bianca, Boscatto, Rocche dell’Olmo) – with peronospera/downey mildew raising its head in Barolo. Week of 20 June saw temps peak at 35 degrees, followed by a re-assuringly warm July at 30 degrees, punctured by the occasional storm; Aug 3rd storm toppled a great Lime tree in Barolo; more hot weather wc 10 Aug, with some 30 degree spikes through wks Aug 17 & 24th.
Then all change wc 31 Aug, as a cool front descended upon N.Italy. Notable change in September, as the Langhe received c.65% less water than in 2019 while enjoying similar, cooler temps! On 24th September I bumped into super-agronomist & geologist Edmondo Bonelli: “2020 is not unlike 2018 but fresher, more acidity. The regular rainfalls are similar to that of an irrigation system (i.e. just enough/in regular doses!). pHs should be up like 2018 too, so good mouthfeel/softer tannins. Good site will be important, favouring the more free draining soils, i.e. older/Elveziano; while the younger/Tortoniano communes already have good water retention.” Warmer mid-September but much cooler days & crisper nights from wc 21 Sept, perfect for Nebbiolo. Rainstorm on 25 Sept wreaked havoc in S. France (the Var), but caused no damage in the Langhe, bar il vento. Most of Barbaresco & Barolo harvested started wc 28th Sept, finishing wc 5th Oct, while some like Roagna at Pira will wait until wc 12th Oct So a week earlier than in 2019. But good quantity & quality; fruit tannins seem very ripe & resolved. And finally, & importantly, winter ’20/’21 spettacolare: cooler October, then snow on 23 Nov, then again on 10 Dec lasting through to 20 Gennaio, with sub-zero temps slowing the thaw!
L’annata 2021 was shaped by: abundant winter snow – April frost – a dry May – hot June & Aug. – warm Sept. with rain relief & cool nights – classic harvest date – low malic vs tartaric acid due to summer drought – less rain overall vs 2016, & marginally warmer!
The year started well: a textbook winter, with snow & cold temperatures during January, & then cold during February, becoming warmer gradually in March, but April 6/7th minus 5.6 degrees (Grinzane Cavour) left frost damage of up to 50% in certain (lower-lying) vineyards (Brunate, Rocche dell’A, Gabutti, Monrobiolo di Bussia); ironically most damage in mid slope & best exposed vyds, notably in La Morra, Grinzane, Roddi; less so in Castiglione, Serralunga, Monforte. Welcome spring rain 10-12 April, turning cooler; fresh & unsettled for the rest of the month. May started warmer, up to 21 degrees, but cool nights; rain 10th, 23/24th May night has enjoyed a good soaking; a fairly fresh spring May, less wet than in 2020/2019/2018. Summer started on 31st May, to 27 degrees by 5pm, triggering flowering; week 7th June started with two nights of rain, before hotting up to 30 degrees (& 26 by night). June remained close to 30 degrees by day, but fresher by night. Week 12 July heralded a break in the weather, with cool overcast days; welcome rainstorm 13 July sera but hail in Vezza, Castellinaldo, Castagnito. The 2nd half of July had a cooler, August feel about it, with rain on 30 July. 2021 Nebbiolo da Barolo harvest was forecast to commence wk 4th or 10th Oct, due to April frost pushing the season back…but while the first two wks of August were relatively cool/typical, the heat returned on the eve of Ferragosto (15th). Week 16th Agosto remained at 30 degrees, cooling down on 19th Agosto; week 23rd August has notably cool nights & shorter hot days, which augurs well. Brief but welcome two hr rainshower at 6am on Monday 6th Sept, & then on 16 Sept. Rainy damp Sunday 3rd Oct brought a definite autumnal feel to the Langhe. The vines beginning to flag, but Nebbiolo fruit has held up well. Monday 4th Oct heavy downpour evening; Genoa witnessed heaviest on record: 496mm over 5 hrs! Wed. 6 Oct, Bartolo Mascarello started the Barolo harvest! Thurs. 7 Oct saw a 6 degree start to the day, rising to 24 by early afternoon, so perfect for F.lli Alessandria’s harvest of Monvigliero – the same date in 2001! Week 11th Oct stupendous weather: longer cold nights (4/6 degrees, sunny warm but short sunny 20 degree days) that’s transformed the face of the vintage. Matteo Ascheri harvested a week later than in 2020 (which is fairly consistent with other prods.) Roagna harvested Barbaresco week 4th Oct, & started picking (Barolo) Pira VV week 11th Oct; same date as Nicola at Trediberri, picking their 14yo Berri vyd. Wonderfully warm sunny days & cold nights through October. Some report tricky ferments due to low nitrogen levels (dry summer) & good acidities; BMascarello’s fermented for nearly a month, + another month’s capello sommerso. Roero: Tibaldi say rainfall was down 50% at 300mm in 2021, with drought rather than heat being the problem, leading to small bunches of thick skinned (notably Arneis) grapes. DBG observation of the ferments: the ’21 reds have more colour intensity, & more ‘nerve’ (compared to the complete 2020s) – a typical ‘1’ vintage then! According to Bruna Grimaldi’s Simone Fiorino: the magia/magic of ‘21 is the high levels of tartaric acid in wines, thanks to a snowy winter but dry season, especially in the latter stages, & notable diurnal shift/cool nights in Sept/Oct that allowed the balanced vines to photosynthesize without losing their fresh acids.