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The winter was somehow cool. The temperatures were near freezing for quite a long time. Even spring started with quite chilly temperatures and therefore the beginning of the vegetation was slightly late, thus bringing the advantage, especially in Chianti Classico, to reduce the risks of hailstorms in spring.
From May on, the temperatures rose. June and especially July were really hot. The sun and the frequent rainfalls helped the growing of the vines in a perfect way so that the delay of the vegetation from the cool spring was soon caught up. The weather conditions at the beginning of August were characterised by strong rainstorms and cool temperatures. From mid-August the situation changed again and it started a perfect, in some way close to endless, maturation time for the grapes. The temperatures were pleasantly warm during the day and quite cool at night. This temperature difference between night and daytime greatly improved the development of the aromas of the grapes.
The grapes were therefore in good healthy conditions with a quite ideal balance between the skin and the fruit pulp, a high sugar content and a significant acidity.
The young wines showed very deep colours, were rich in alcohol and had a good balance between the acidity and the tannins. The wines showed an important structure which is likely to anticipate a long life.
The harvest started in Maremma on Aug. 28 with Merlot, in the second week of September we picked Sangiovese, followed by the Petit Verdot and the Cabernet Sauvignon. On Sept. 28 we finished an outstanding harvest.
In Chianti Classico we started on Sept. 6 with the young Merlot vineyard. After a short break, we started again on Sept. 11 with the older Merlot vines followed by Sangiovese. On Oct. 4 with Cabernet Sauvignon we closed the harvest which was better than what we had expected.
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