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The Latest On Montenidoli's Wines

The 2010 Vintage at Montenidoli

Unusual Seasons:

A snowy winter, a cold, rainy spring, a hot summer with rains at regular intervals, and a sunny fall.

January: After a first sunny day, heavy snowfall quickly melted by the rain. Rain for the rest of the month, which ended cold, with ice and snow.

February opened with sun that immediately gave way to rain, followed by snow and ice. The sun returned the 14th, for Valentine's Day, and like clockwork the birds sang out their first loves. The frogs in the pond also awakened, drawn by promises of spring warmth amidst the sun and rain.

With March winter came roaring back: on the 6th it snowed like it had never snowed before at Montenidoli. For three days, leaving pristine silence on the isolated hillside, where snow became ice. The more fragile olive trees lost their limbs (but not their roots), the weight of the snow played hob with the cypresses, and the pines whose roots were too superficial went over. The sun, clouds, and rain returned, but not the swallows, which delayed their arrival for a month.

April - May - June: alternating heat, cold, rain and sun for three months. A very unusual spring.

On July 8 the summer arrived suddenly: Hot, and forceful. The month ended with rains, and a return to chilly nights.

In August and September there were nice, hot sunny days alternated with rains and the occasional thunderstorm. The fall, marked by the departing swallows, was allied with the sun, with crystalline light and dry, beneficial air.

The vines tussled by the vagaries of the weather profited from the alternating cold, sun, rain and wind. There was regular pruning and tying on dry days, and equally regular maintenance on wet ones. Mulching with chopped fermented vine cuttings made the soil perfect for the freshly planted rootlings. Ground cover planted between the rows aired the earth with their roots and fertilized it with their leaves.

The cold of the spring decimated the buds and the blossoms, producing selected bunches of grapes.

The Primo Sole Est Vineyard came into being: A hectare of Sangiovese and a thousand Canaiolo vines on red Triassic soils. The new vines profited greatly from the alternating sun and rain. The lines strung high on the poles of the vineyard guided the shoots, which were free to extend themselves.

The strengthening of the fences provided better protection from invading deer and wild boar. Alas, cap guns, colorful, mobile balloons, and the reflections of the bottles affixed to the poles were unable to keep flocks of birds and foxes from the ripe grapes.

The harvest was not abundant, but the grapes reached the cellars perfectly ripe. As always, the grapes were harvested by hand and carefully placed into baskets. The nice weather insured that the grapes were whole and dry when they reached the cellars.

This year we were fortunate to meet with Ruggero Mazzilli, the founder of "Viticoltura Sostenibile," who gave much excellent advice for organic farming at Montenidoli.

The wine was born of a very particular vintage with weather of a kind Montenidoli had never had.

The grapes that reached to the cellars were ripe, but less abundant than in other years. A third of the harvest was taken by the spring frosts, and another third by the birds and foxes when it was ripe.

The musts boasted good acidity and richness, and underwent long, complete fermentation.

The sugars were more in keeping with normal vintages, and didn't display the excessive richness of hot vintages.

The Vernaccia di Carato was selected, as always, from the free-run musts of the Templare and Gobbi vineyards.

The musts of the Etrusco and Riviera vineyards, destined to Vernaccia Fiore, went into steel to mature on their lees.

For Vernaccia Tradizionale the grapes, after macerating on their skins, were pressed and decanted before fermenting in steel.

For Templare, the Trebbiano Gentile and Malvasia Bianca of the Chianti vineyards fermented with the Vernaccia from the Petraia vineyard.

From the old Chianti vineyards, the red-stemmed Canaiolo was selected for the Rosato, and the Sangiovese for Sono Montenidoli.

The Sangiovese for the Triassico was decimated by birds and foxes; a precious little survived, and is in a five hectoliter cask.

The Chianti Colli Senesi and Chianti Il Garrulo come from the old Chianti vineyards.

The Chianti Colli Senesi's Sangiovese and Canaiolo is from the Maturi and Riviera vineyards.

What's new for this year is the first vinification of Colorino in Purezza, from the new Colorino vineyards first harvested in 2009.

Giacomo Buscioni, of the Universitá di Microbiologia di Firenze, carefully evaluates the health and constitution of Montenidoli's wines.

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