Our vineyard
We are fortunate to own a small vineyard nearby our home. Since we bought it in 1963, we never stopped taking care of it and harvesting the grapes to make wine for us and our friends.
To have a good, ripe grapes, you begin with pruning the vines during the last weeks of winter. This year the spring arrived sooner than usual, and to our surprise we found a beautiful yellow carpet of dandeliond.
In April you can already see the sprouting grapes, tiny and green, which grow day after day.
The storm
Last August there were many storms in our region. After a strong one, I always go to check if the grapes sustained any damage. Luckily this time there was no harm done, but the whole vineyard was flooded!
Finally the grape juice
At the end of September we harvested the grapes one by one by hand because they are very delicate. On the same day, we squeezed them by using a press to extract the must. It has a nice, saturated red colour and the scent of grapes goes everywhere. It will take at least five months from now before sipping the new wine. In our case we grow two different varieties: merlot and verduzzo.
My wife helps me in most of the processes, especially in the pressing phase. From the grape marc (the squeezed peel of grapes) you can then brew grappa, which is a very typical alcoholic drink of north-east Italy.