HARVEST REPORT 2012
ON THE TUSCAN COAST
Consultant
oneologist and Duemani owner, Luca d'Attoma, gives us the low-down on the 2012 vintage on the Tuscan Coast:
“The
harvest was characterized by inhomogeneity of maturity and
this not be blamed only on the climate during August but also
thanks to the irregular fruit set at the end of May, which came about
as a result of sudden drops in temperature and strong humidity. This has resulted in
different maturation of vines in
the same vineyard. To make high quality wines there
had to be at least three stages of harvest. We are missing from 20% to 30% in volume of
wine, not so much thanks to the Summer heat but more
for the drought in the Winter and Spring. A heatwave in August was followed by an important lowering of the temperature at the beginning of September,
nights were cool at about 15 ° - this stimulated and awakened the plants’ vitality and spurred
on the ripening of the grapes. On
the coast we harvested Merlot within the
first half of September and Cabernet started from the
third week, with great
results. Sangiovese in the most important areas such as Morellino were
harvested from the first to the third week of September
and here we will also have interesting wines suitable for
long ageing.
The general health of
grapes was very good. In the last days of September we had rain and strong moisture so it has
been necessary to make a strict selection but the
wines will be of an excellent level."
