Week 17 (or so!) or wine adventures in Piedmont

This is it;  the final week of the 2009 Nebbiolo/Barolo harvest.  Az. Agr. Giovanni Rosso kick off with an early morning dash to La Serra, their east south east facing vineyard high up on the Serralunga calcareous ridge.

In the first video I catch up with Ester Rosso, Davide’s fine mamma, as she corals their team of pickers to pick La Serra swiftly and accurately; a vineyard appropriately drenched in the golden glow of early morning sunshine:

Then, in this second one, and five minutes down the road, she hands over to her husband Giovanni and, of course, to Davide to receive the fruit and ensure its safe passage into the fermenting vats:

Davide’s very happy they hung on to the last moment before harvesting (while his neighbour in La Serra harvested ten days ago), as it’s ensured a potential alcohol of 14.3%, perfect phenolic/tannin maturation and the ability for the Nebbiolo berries to be easily separated from the stalks, so minimising the percentage of stalks/wood in the must, retaining maximum fruit expression.

Soon I’ll be bringing you news of another late starter: Giuseppe Mascarello, harvesting Nebbiolo in their Santo Stefano di Perno vineyard, Monforte.