It’s no secret that a Siberian cold spell has Europe in its icy grasp.

Montalcino’s mayor closed the school on Wednesday and every day since then, conveyed by a flurry of midnight text messages from mother to mother. There’s no meat left in the Coop, the elderly are skittering about on the roads and many farmhouses on the northern slopes have been without electricity for two days now.

We are sitting tight at Il Palazzone; there are over 50 cm of snow and our road is impassable by car. The snow is positive for the vineyard since it is a great way for the soil to absorb a substantial quantity of water. Sadly this is not so true for the olive trees and we are all crossing our fingers. Their branches are weighed down with snow; the risk is that they break and then be frozen by the cold.

The forecast weather has been billed as the coldest since 1985 (and before that 1956). For me personally, winter 1985 is indelibly linked to the vivid memory of watching my father breaking and then burning the kitchen furniture to keep us warm. For Montalcinese 1985 is unforgettable because it was the year the olive trees froze. For Club100 olive tree owners reading this and fearing for the livelihood of their trees, in 1985 the thermometers in S.Angelo Scalo read -25°C (-13°F).

The sky is a dirty-blanket grey, snowflakes are falling thick and fast and temperatures are meant to go down to –10 this weekend (14°F)….Brrrr.

2012 is already an exciting year for Il Palazzone. The cellar is nearly finished and we have two new members in our team. Let me introduce these two SuperTuscans:

Gianni Petricci, or Osso as he is known, has fifteen years of experience working in Montalcino vineyards. He’s a local man and a great asset to the estate, thanks to his abilities as a mechanic and laconic good humour.

Jacopo Ferretti qualified from the Istituto Agrario in Siena in 2003 and has been working for estates in Montalcino and Tuscany since then. Cellar management is in his genes; his father is the cantiniere at Poggio Antico and he grew up amongst the vineyards there. We are thrilled to have him with us as we embark on the adventure of the new cellar.

Today we are bottling 2007 Brunello and 2006 Riserva…. The variety of noises that a bottling line emits is an astounding collection of clinks and clanks, juddering rattles and hisses. Although the insertion of the cork is automated, the bottles need to be lifted manually one by one onto the line and removed and placed in their cages on the other end. We do not label yet, and the bottles stay nude and upright for a week before being gently lain on their sides to get over the trauma that is known as bottle shock (for a full explanation of this temporary condition, see here)

Our production of these vintages is limited to say the least; a puny 1200 bottles of 2006 Riserva (yep, that’s right, 100 cases….) and under 5.000 bottles of 2007. Small numbers indeed but picking up “just” 6200 bottles twice in one day is a taxing day’s work.

2007 and 2006 are both five star years. This is actually the first time since 1945 that two consecutive vintages have received the prestigious five stars “annata eccezionale.” See for yourself here

Obviously late and early are relative concepts but it is true to say that most Montalcino producers bottled these vintages between 6 months to two years ago and that we are – in a sense – late to bottle. All Brunellos must spend a minimum of 24 months in wood and Riserva can only be released on the 6^th year after harvest. In our case this wine is a different composition than our vintage 2006 and has also spent an extra 18 months in wood. Our 2007 and 2006 Riserva have spent respectively 43 and 57 months in wood – infinitely more than the current DOCG regulations for 24 months. We decide to bottle our wines when they are ready and this decision is determined by the vintage and the wine’s development in the cellar. This prolonged time in wood, which two such great vintages can well withstand, will extend the “cellarability” and increase the complexity of these wines.

After bottling Brunello must spend 4 months of bottle ageing and Riserva 6 months before we can request the DOCG strips.

Many of our colleagues are gearing up to present their wines at Benvenuto Brunello next month and journalists are already rounding up bottles in order to review the new vintages. We will be hanging back until after the summer.

Watch this space.

Bottle-shock is the inevitable trauma that wine experiences when it is transferred to a new environment from a familiar one. In our case a wine ready for bottling goes first from wood to stainless steel. There we blend our Sangiovese from 3 different vineyards. Its final home is the sterilized bottle; cold, unyielding glass, makes me shiver just thinking of it.

In response to this new environment, wines tend to get shy and retreat into themselves, even acting a bit sharp and uptight, before settling down and remembering who they really are. Bottle shock is characterised by muted or disjointed fruit flavours in the wine… jagged in short.

The good news is that it is temporary and the wine will get over the shock by resting and recovering, working inside the bottle to reach a new equilibrium. The more tannins in a wine, the more recovery time necessary. Obligatory bottle aging for 4 months is part of the DOCG regulations which apply to all Brunellos. Riservas have to spend 6 months bottle aging.

Bottle sickness more often refers to travel abuse of wine; continuous vibrations and changes in temperature can upset the elements of the wine. No need for a doctor or last rites; given time, the wine will recover its poise and balance.

The days are crisp and clear, with startling blue skies and beautiful sunsets. We have been working the soil around the vines so that any and all winter rains will be fully absorbed by the land. These water reserves may prove useful later in the 2012 growing season.

Winter pruning started this week, a “potatura soffice” meticulously performed by hand. Soffice in Italian means soft; it is an adjective most often used to describe sponge cakes, clouds and kitten fur.

After his weekly visit to the vineyards, our agronomer Massimo Achilli, instructed us how best to cut back the straggly offshoots this year, cutting only last year’s growth and allowing the vine to develop. “Soft pruning” is a revival of traditional pruning methods which is gaining momentum in Italy. Once upon a time, when vineyards were all small and tended by hand by the farmers themselves, the potino was fully attuned to the vine’s health and was committed and concerned about the effect of every operation performed in the vineyard. Nowadays with the use of machines and/or itinerant workforces who lack preparation and a long-term connection with the vines, this art has been lost and the Italian vineyards have suffered generally as a result.

When the potatura soffice is used correctly it is proven to significantly increase the vine’s life-span and can cut annual pruning costs by half. Most importantly the longer the vine lives, the better the grapes are…

The champions of this tecnique are two specialists from Friuli; Marco Simonit and Pierpaolo Sirch. Over the last two decades they have perfected and patented their method, see here. They are responsible for creating the world’s first Pruning School to recover and teach a dying art. They consult directly for forty or so prestigious Italian estates; Angelo Gaja and Spinetta in Piemonte; Bellavista in Franciacorta; Hofstatter and Tenuta Manincor in Alto Adige, Feudi di San Gregorio in Campania; Planeta and Tasca d’ Almerita in Sicily. The school has courses during the winter in most of Italy’s wine-growing areas and I have just signed us up for the 2012 course… evviva!

2011 was a funny old year – there’s no two ways about it.

It’s mid-November now and while the nights are bitterly cold, around midday, temperatures could still pass for summer in some countries.

In the wake of the March “super” moon, Easter was late (April 24th) and the vines were slow to start. Budbreak was on 10th April 2011. In 2010 it was on 1st April although 2011 was characterised by much less snow and infinitely less rigid temperatures.

From the beginning of the year until 14 May there was only 10cm of rainfall, compared to the 20cm that is considered normal. Then on Sunday 15th over 5cm of rain fell in 5 intense hours. Another 10 cm of rain fell in Montalcino between Sunday 5th and Wednesday 8th June. We had a cool and rainy July (particularly the last ten days of the month) and a torrid August and September with no rain.

On 21st August searing hot winds of 41°C (106 F) blew their way across Montalcino. This is called “effetto phon” – the hairdryer effect – continual hot air scorches the leaves and dehydrates the grapes. Sadly our lowest vineyard suffered and we threw out some 3.000 kg of grapes. From 26th August night temperatures became decidedly chilly and the grapes benefited from extreme thermal excursion. Due to the heat spikes in August, many producers in Montalcino began harvest at the beginning of September. Temperatures in mid September were 5-7 degrees Celsius higher than average. During the hottest hours of the day, temperatures hit 28° C. (82° F.), while during the night the temperatures went as low as 16° (61°).

We were tempted to pick on 15th September but after some havering we decided to brave the storm that was predicted; in the hopes that a little water would be beneficial for the vines and the fruit. Ten days of perfect weather plus the ever widening day/night thermal excursion gave our grapes perfect physiological ripening.

We picked our lowest vineyard on 22 September, the second Castelnuovo vineyard on 29 September and Le Due Porte on 4 October. Yields were low, selection and quality were high. We were delighted to use a stainless steel vibrating selection table for the first time.

From 2011 vintage onwards we are fermenting in oak barrels instead of in stainless steel. The wine will go from fermentation wood barrel to large ageing wood barrel. So far we are extremely pleased with our 125 quintals of 2011 (equivalent to around 11.000 bottles). This was a year when we chose to combine ruthless quality control with patience, and that choice ultimately rewarded us.

We’re thrilled to announce that the 2004 Riserva has just been named as one of Wine & Spirits Magazine’s 100 Best Wines of the Year in its Winter 2011 issue, and is tied for Best Brunello!

According to Wine & Spirits, “Of the 10,867 wines we tasted last year, these are the 100 that excited us the most, the ones with the most elegant and delicious ability to taste of where they grow. By nature, the 100 Best Wines of the Year are diverse in style, ranging from tart and lean to welterweights to ripe blockbusters,from those that strike a resonant chord with our expectations and those that help us understand a region in a completely new way.”

The wine was awarded 93 points, and W&S continued on to say, “From a ten-acre vineyard in western Montalcino, at an altitude of 480 meters, this wine developed its share of earthy power in 2004 (the first great vintage since Dick Parsons, then president of Time Warner, bought the property in 2001). Rooted in mineral tannin, the wine is brisk and sunny,with an elusive power to its fruit. New oak is still a major element, but there’s plenty of earthen depth to the flavors that emerge from underneath.  For the cellar and eventually, a thick-cut ribeye.”

The limited production of this wine included 3,916 750-ml bottles, 125 Magnums and 25 Double Magnums and was bottled on July 1, 2009.

For more information:
http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com/

We read in our local paper just the other day that architects are creating “wine cathedrals” for storing and aging wine. Our new cellar, designed by Marco Pignattai, should be finished and ready for use at the end of January 2012.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8MMvP0zJ0s

I’d like to think that visitors to Il Palazzone never forget our wines but the reality is that few people who drive to the property ever forget the rollercoaster white-knuckle ride that it takes to get to us. We may only be a kilometre from the centre of town, but it is 900 metres of steep, dusty, pot-holed road, with a drybrick wall on one side and a ravine on the other.

In anticipation of the building work for our new cellar we widened the road where possible and removed the blind-corner-on-a-hill so beloved by our guests.

This said, it was some job getting the 9 metres of roof-beams on site, not to mention the recent delivery of three 5.000 litre wood fermentation tanks.

From 2011 vintage onwards we will be fermenting in these beautiful oaken barrels instead of in stainless steel. The tannins in the oak are an anti-oxidant. This, combined with the micro-oxigenation permitted by the wood, gives wines that are more “limpido” with increased stability of aromatics and tannins.

The tanks weigh in at around 1000 kg each so navigating them up our hill and around the bends was quite something, not to mention squeezing them into our temporary cellar space. In order to get them functional we need to fill them up with water for 48 hours to see if they leak.

As I write in my tasting room, the heady slightly-sickening aroma of fermentation is wafting through the building. The sounds of swearing shouting men have finally abated and the barrels are in place, ready for harvest and fermentation next week.

It’s that time of year again; to pick or not to pick? Shall we, shan’t we? Who has, who hasn’t?

This year many producers in Montalcino began harvest at the beginning of September, particularly the low-lying properties. Historically harvest in Montalcino is in October so this is very early. Temperatures all last week were 5-7 degrees celsius higher than average. Sugar levels are high and a storm is predicted tonight. As I write a strong wind is stirring the cypresses and the stars are hidden.

Late last Tuesday Marco came back from testing our lower vineyards muttering “Bisogna levarla” – “Got to get them off.” Vigna del Capa has vines that are over thirty years old and therefore have developed root systems. This means they didn’t suffer “stress idrico” in August but nevertheless their Brix is already much higher than necessary minimum for Brunello. Brix is a measurement of the sugar content of an aqueous solution and Brunello grapes must have a certain level of sugar in order to guarantee the minimum alcohol % of 12.5.

The next day we rushed to wash out our crates and check that our beautiful brand-new vibrating selection table is in working order. We fully expected to pick on Thursday and were ready to do so. But as the next twenty-four hours unfolded harvest was relegated to maybe Friday and has now been postponed until some point in the coming week. We decided to brave the storm; a little water will be beneficial for the vines and the fruit. The ten predicted days of perfect weather that should follow plus the inevitable ever widening day/night thermal excursion will give our grapes perfect physiological ripening. Although we could pick now, or indeed have already harvested, we hope to improve the quality of our yield by waiting.

 This is decided by an inexact combination of science and instinct and there is no recipe from year to year. We use the internet for weather forecasts including the very precise data used and produced by the Aeronautica Militare. Marco also spends time licking his index finger and testing the wind, talking to old ginks and neighbouring producers and applying the knowledge he has of this specific place having lived here all his life. Every five days or so we send 400 single grapes plucked from different clusters from different areas of our vineyards to be analysed in a laboratory and he walks the vineyard with our agronomer twice a week.  We also check the pennello daily (the exposed tip of the stalk after a grape is removed, right now it’s white and when the grapes are ripe it will show a tell-tale dot of ruby red), the contadino method to assess the grape’s maturity.

May tonight’s storm come and go. It has just started to rain gently. So far so good.

On 21st August searing hot winds of 41°C (106 F) blew their way across Montalcino. The word on the hill is that depending on age of vines and position of vineyards, many producers are now facing heat-related damage and we are all very much concerned with the health of the grapes so close to harvest.

The effects of last week’s wind are visible already in some vineyards; in the most affected areas bunches are wizened and raisin-like or, in a slightly better scenario, a few grapes per bunch are oxidised. Sadly there is no way to combat the effects of the heat. Those who kept good foliage on the canopy around the bunches were able to protect their grapes from the direct effect of the suns’ rays and the aggression of the wind. Luckily we are in this camp and have suffered very minor damage.

Our vineyards in all three areas of Montalcino are in great condition, although yields will be much lower than the 6.000 kg per hectare that is permitted for Brunello. Our agronomer, Massimo Achilli, after a careful examination of all our different altitude vineyards, is confident that our normal selection procedures will be sufficient. If it doesn’t rain and the high temperatures continue there is a risk in general that figgy, raisiny aromas might sneak into the 2011 bouquet. So rain would be ideal (are you listening Nature? Just putting my intentions out there) – just so long as it’s the odd refreshing shower rather than days of continual rainfall.

Massimo has assured us that in spite of the extreme heat spike in the week of 21 August there is no risk of a repeat of 2003 conditions. This vintage was characterised by a total absence of rainfall from July onwards and a very hot summer. In 2011 there was abundant rain in the last ten days of July. Any damage done this year is not due to the temperatures but to the wind. We call it here “effetto phon” – the hairdryer effect – continual hot air scorches the  leaves and dehydrates the grapes.

Since 26th August night temperatures have become decidedly chilly and our grapes are enjoying the benefits of extreme thermal excursion.

It is typical of the generosity of talented and charismatic Roberto Rossi that, having tasted our Brunello 2006, he gave us his recipe for squab.  We had asked him to suggest a perfect dish for the vintage specific QR code on the backlabel of this wine.

 Il Silene is a beautiful fine dining restaurant on the slopes of Monte Amiata. Roberto makes a point of personally sourcing local ingredients and his creations are always a great balance of playful creativity and tradition. He has many fans amongst Montalcino’s producers and a wonderful wine list spanning the length of Italy; a trip to Il Silene is always worth the journey.

Inspired by the Chef’s grandfather, this recipe is a collaboration between Roberto and his friend Maurizio. “Piccione” is a prized meat and is used in many other recipes locally.  It is served as a typical Sunday lunch in Seggiano.

For the meat (serves 2 people)
Breast and legs of two squab
3 fresh sprigs of rosemary
1 ½ cloves of garlic, bruised
A small glass of dry white wine
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

For the side-dish
Fresh seasonal greens
½ cup beans (ideally Fagioli del Purgatorio), soaked for 2 hours
3 large sage leaves
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 clove of garlic
*If Fagioli del Purgatorio cannot be found, substitute with Cannellini beans and soak overnight, 8 – 12 hours

In a heavy bottomed deep skillet, sear the meat in extra virgin olive oil until the skin becomes crispy. Add the rosemary and the garlic to the pan. When the garlic begins to brown, add the white wine and allow it to evaporate. Salt to taste.

Remove the pan from the heat to stop the cooking, but leave the meat in the pan to extract flavors (the insides should be pink).

Meanwhile, add the beans, garlic, rosemary and sage to a lightly salted pot of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, simmering for 40-50 minutes, depending on your taste.

Cut the breasts of the squab and fan them out on the plate, adding the legs and beans as a side dish along with steamed seasonal greens.

To experience this in person, visit Roberto.

Il Silene, Loc. Pescina,  58038
Seggiano (GR) Italy.

tel    +39 0564 950 805
fax   +39 0564 950 553
info@ilsilene.it
www.ilsilene.it

In mid-September 2011 his much-awaited first book will be available. Contact Roberto directly for information about ordering and delivery.

The name of the town Montalcino in all likelihood derives from the Latin toponym, “mons ilex,” meaning the mountain of the holm oaks. The town crest, embossed on lamp-posts and manholes in town, shows a solitary oak on a symbolic mountain. If you have happened upon a sculpture of a strange iron tree on a heap of rubble in the inner courtyard of the town council, now all will be clear.

Holm oaks (also known as holly oak) are large evergreen trees and are very common here as in much of the Mediterranean. For the Latin scholars, “ilex” are similarly present in the Aeneid; Dido and Aeneas adorn each other with ilex garlands and the golden bough for entrance to the underworld is on an ilex. In Italian oak trees are “quercia” but holm oaks are “leccio.”

Alternatively the name could be from “Mons Lucinus”again from Latin. Lucus which means sacred or small wood. This is how Montalcino was described in the first document that refers to the town, nearly 1200 years ago, on 29 December 814.

Every February, Montalcino fills with excitement for Benvenuto Brunello, when the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino announces its evaluation of the most recent vintage (more information can be found here).  In addition to this announcement is the unveiling of the newest vintage’s tile, a tradition started by the Consorzio in 1992 enlisting the design skills of celebrities from the world of art, sports and entertainment.

With the release of the 2006 Brunello into the markets this year, here’s a closer look at that year’s tile, designed by one of the world’s preeminent hospitality designers, Adam D. Tihany.  Born in Transylvania in 1948, Tihany grew up in Israel and later studied architecture in Italy at the Politecnico di Milano before moving to New York to pursue his cutting-edge, whimsical and sophisticated design approach, which was influenced by his unique global perspective.

Tihany is generally credited with having created the concept of the upscale trattoria and brasserie in New York.  His role as a restaurant owner for over 25 years makes him particularly suited to intimately know the needs of his clients when designing new restaurants.  He has conceived interiors for over 300 restaurants for such esteemed chefs as Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Charlie Palmer, Pierre Gagnaire, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Wolfgang Puck and the Maccioni family.

Besides restaurants, Tihany has a depth of experience designing hotels as well, including the Shangri-La in Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, the Aleph Hotel in Rome, the King David and Dan Eilat hotels in Israel and the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, Las Vegas, London and Geneva.  He has also created lines for luxury producers such as Christofle, Frette and McGuire.

Adam Tihany has been a two-time curator of the Milan Furniture Fair, creating exhibits both for restaurants and for hotels.  Accolades include induction to the Interior Design Hall of Fame (1991), James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who in Food and Beverage in the United States (1997), Bon Appetit’s Designer of the Year (2001) and most recently an appointment, starting August 1, 2011, as the Art Director of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, NY.

While hotel and restaurant designs can change at any time, Adam Tihany has been immortalized with his 2006 Brunello tile in Montalcino.

On the main street in Montalcino is Osteria Osticcio. Owned and run by affable Tullio Scrivani, and his sparkly-eyed wife Francesca this is an incredibly well-stocked enoteca with a definite preference for organic and natural wines. They also serve beautifully presented meals in front of a windowful of Montalcino rooftops and the hills of the Val D’Orcia in the far distance.

 The view alone would be reason enough to recommend this place but it also has great wines by the glass and by the bottle, informed staff and delicious carefully sourced primary ingredients. If you would like to feast your eyes on Tuscany with a platter of cheese (and not just Pecorino, a rarity in this area) and a great glass of Brunello, this is the place to go. No insinuations about their service times but Osteria Osticcio is wasted on those after a quick bite. It is a place for savouring  food, wine and ambience. An example: if you order coffee you receive your own personal mocha and a cup of hand-whipped coffee cream (made in the Neapolitan way, sugar beaten up with the first percolated drops of coffee) and a couple of hand-made chocolates. There should always be time for this kind of experience.

ENOTECA OSTERIA OSTICCIO
Via Matteotti, 23  53024 Montalcino (SI)
Tel.+39 0577 848271   Fax+390577846907 osticcio@osticcio.com

Open every day from 11 to 23. Thursday early closing at 20.

At the end of December 2009 the Consorzio del Brunello launched a new traceability procedure via text messsage. The system is effective from the 1999 vintage onwards and gives the final consumer a way of checking the wine they are drinking is certified Brunello and has been produced by the estate on the label (and is the vintage as labelled). It is part of a move towards transparent practice, a positive development given the murky times for Italian appellation wines. DOCG strips are vintage and estate specific and are available in January of the fifth year after harvest. They correspond to the exact number of bottles that have been certified as Brunello.

Send a text message to 0039 366 3008880 with the three capital letters from the pink DOCG strip, the 8 numbers from the strip and the bottle capacity. Makes sure you leave a space between letters and numbers. In a matter of moments an SMS comes flying back with the estate, the approval details, alcohol, total acidity and dry extract levels. If you do it via the Consorzio website you also get the estate’s address, telephone and website.

For example, if you insert e.g. AAI 00930123 0.75 this is what you will find in your inbox:

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Annata 2004 in bottiglia da 0.75 l. di Il Palazzone SRL. Partita di 8633 bott. per Hl 64.748 certificata da CCIAA di Siena n.15347 del 25.07.08. Titolo alcolometrico 13.91; Estratto secco netto, 31. Acidità totale 5,27.

What to make of this?

Annata means vintage. The “partita” refers to the production authorised (in our case, our total production). The CCIAA is the Camera di Commercio di Siena (the Chamber of Commerce) and the number 15347 is the identification the approval and authorisation of our Brunello. This certification is the result of a lab analysis of the wine, an organoleptic panel testing and the correspondence between our vineyards and our authorised production.

Apart from checking for fraud, the technical data that are provided actually give a key to assessing the wine’s balance and are details not normally available to the consumer. A harmonious well-made wine will show equilibrium between hard and soft elements; the potential harshness of alcohol and acidity will be balanced by the smoothness of residual sugars and dry extract. If none of these characteristics are dominant then a wine is well balanced (and therefore pleasant to drink…).

Titolo alcolometrico
The alcohol level of a wine is the natural result of the fermentation process, the sugars in the grapes are metabolised into alcohol. Alcohol in wine is measured in percentage as opposed to proof. I should probably admit that I get really impatient with people who veer away from high alcohol wines on principle, as if the alcohol on the label is an indication of “strength”. Alcohol effects the taste, texture and structure of a wine. If there is enough of everything else i.e. if the wine is balanced as above, then the alcohol level may not be evident to the person drinking (so no flushed cheeks, though this doesn’t mean you are OK to drive). A certain level of alcohol is necessary to sustain a serious wine with a long cellar life ahead of it. This is definitely the case with our 2004. Alcohol is the backbone for a wine; it is a powerful preservative and allows the wine to age. A Brunello must have at least 12.5% alcohol. There is a 0.5% tolerance permitted so Brunellos generally show 13.5% alcohol on the label.

Estratto secco netto
Dry extract is the solid substance left after water and alcohol are removed from a wine. High levels of dry extract reflect a wine with a higher body. The amount of flavour that a wine has can be directly attributed to the dry extract. Brunellos must have a net dry extract of at least 24 gr. per litre.

Acidità totale
Acidity gives wines focus and freshness. Acidity is a naturally occurring component in grapes. Wines with too little acidity can be dull and lifeless. Brunellos must have a minimum total acidity of 5 gr. per litre.

Happy extrapolating!

This week we are doing the second cimatura or topping of the vines. We are cutting back the suckers and tendrils in order to reign back the vines’ force and to increase penetration of sunlight to the fruit. Although there are tractors that can be used for this operation we prefer to do this by hand since our workers can then assess each section of vine and act accordingly. The feminelle (lateral secondary offshoots, useful for photosynthesis and for bringing substances to the grapes) have to be 40-50 days old in order to work for the vines so the timing of the different topping operations is linked to the vine’s performance leading up to harvest.

Never miss a chance to taste a “pesca saturnina” or “pesca tabacchiera.” They are flat and squashed-looking and have an intense perfume and taste. Smaller than a normal peach; the whole fruit is the same height as its tiny stone. The flesh is white and sweet and will spoil you for any other peach.

This delicacy are very rare in all of Italy and originate from the slopes of Etna in Sicily. They travel badly because of their odd shape and only last 2 or 3 days after picking so should be enjoyed instantly. Only to be found in July.