The 2009 Grape Harvest

Good rains

Budding took place in the first ten days of April, confirming a trend established in 2008, while the flowers blossomed between the 20th and the end of May in most of the vineyards. This blossoming was shorter time than the previous year (when the blossoming period ended towards the middle of June), thanks to temperatures that were persistently above the seasonal average. Veraison began in late July, as in 2008, and was completed perfectly, according to experts, around the 20th of August. There were fewer difficulties with regard to the prevention of disease (downy mildew, powdery mildew and Botrytis in particular) compared to the previous grape harvest, thanks to abundant winter and spring rainfall which ensured a plentiful supply of water for the vines. The rains continued until the end of May and then stopped altogether for three months. This led to a certain amount of stress in certain younger vineyards and particularly for merlot grapes, which we were forced to harvest on the 24th of August. Fortunately, unlike 2003, temperatures were never too high and the considerable, constant temperature range (with nocturnal temperatures falling as low as 16°C) throughout the entire summer, enabled good phenolic ripening for late varieties such as sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot. Furthermore, the rains that fell in the first few days of September contributed considerably to maintain the excellent aromas of the grapes. In terms of grape maturation, sangiovese grapes had a slightly higher sugar content (about 0.5 degrees higher) and a lower acid content (-1 g/l of total acidity) than the previous year.