In 2017 there was very little rain in either the winter or the spring-summer period. After some frosts in January the winter was particularly mild. A hot dry spring led to very early budding. As often happens in these situations caused by excessively mild weather, there was a late frost halfway through April. The temperature went a few degrees below zero and this damaged the vineyards at the bottom of the valleys and in areas next to rivulets. Fortunately the vineyards on the hills were unharmed
May and June were quite hot and particularly dry so there was no problem with fungal diseases (Perenospera and Botrytis).
July and August were very hot, with no rain which led to drought stress and consequent poor plant growth.
The early shooting and partial dehydration of the grapes which took place in August due to the drought forced us to harvest early starting with the merlot on August 17.
Afterwards we harvested the other varieties and we finished picking the cabernet franc and petit Verdot earlier than usual on 7 September.
The heat and drought impacted the quantity of the harvest (an average of 30 quintals of grapes per hectare) but gave us perfectly healthy and ripe fruit with very small grapes rich in polyphenolic substances.
This concentration, mitigated by an early harvest allowed us to make intense, complex wines.
