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2016 Harvest

posted on 3 November 2016
The 2016 harvest is now over. So here we are, as usual, to see how things went this season, which, of course, went by in a flash… This 2016 growing year, in particular, just seemed to fly by, with vineyard operations that were unrelenting up to just before the harvest, but what we finally succeeded in bringing in to the cellar was a very good crop indeed, although at a certain point in the season things looked a bit bleak. The season started out quite warm and earlier than the norm, and it rained without much let up from mid-April until mid-June, which was unpleasant, to say the least. Then it rained again from mid-July to mid-August. Frankly, there were times when we feared that we would lose the greater part of our crop to disease, or to cold, during the critical stage of flowering. For those who, like us, farm organically, the measures that one can use in the vineyard are limited to better and more painstaking vineyard operations. That means constantly working the canopy, so that the clusters, even when just forming, will have excellent ventilation and exposure to sunlight, and anti-pest treatments must be applied timely, since allowed products and dosages are lower than conventional ones. I can say, with a bit of presumption, that we worked very skilfully, but we were also helped by the fact that the weather, at a certain point, turned in our favour, and we enjoyed almost two uninterrupted months of sun, from mid-August to the end of harvest, with warm days and cool nights, ideal conditions for slow, gradual ripening of the grapes. Now that the last few vats are finishing their fermentations, we can say, though with prudent caution, that we are pleasantly surprised by the quality of the wines, and that we are dealing with a good vintage, perhaps even better-balanced than the excellent 2015. We’re present at the Mercato dei Vini On 26 and 27 November, we will be participating in the Mercato dei Vignaioli Indipendenti (Market of Independent Winegrowers) in Piacenza, one of the most fascinating events of the entire year, above all for wine-lovers. PiacenzaExpo Public hours: Saturday, 12:30pm-7:30pm; Sunday, 11.00am-7.00pm Attendance: € 15.00, includes catalogue and tasting glass Discounted attendance: € 10.00 for members of AIS – FIS – FISAR – ONAV and SLOW FOOD Wine may be purchased directly at producers’ tasting stations. Cristina and Diego

Befana 2016

posted on 5 January 2016
As is by now our tradition, the Befana di Cantrina, our very own Good Witch, wants to extend her warm wishes to all our friends and customers for a New Year filled with peace and serenity. At long last, after two challenging harvests, the splendid 2015 was gifted to us, an experience we wouldn’t mind at all repeating, so, please, let’s all start rooting for a fabulous 2016! And now for the news from Cantrina.

Harvest over–a great vintage?

posted on 12 October 2015
Our harvest is complete this year too, and we brought home the fruits of an entire year’s hard work in the vineyards. As always, this is also the time for observations and predictions, with everyone expressing an opinion on the overall quality of the vintage: stars, glasses, clusters, etc. are being generously spread over the season. One thing is sure, though, and that is that the climate is changing, and that will certainly impact our work, which is in large part intimately connected to what nature offers us. We will have to get used to weather marked by extremes: the present 2015, in fact, compared to the cold, rainy 2014, is precisely the opposite. But we all know that extremes do not always make for good balance!

Befana 2015

posted on 6 January 2015
Warm wishes to all from the Befana!!! As always, we like to wait until the beginning of the new year to send everyone our best wishes for the holidays just past and our hopes that the new year will start off in the best way possible. Looking a bit down the road, and at our own life here, we are hopeful that 2015 will be a terrific growing year–and, who knows, perhaps even a great vintage! OK, maybe I’m going a little too fast here, or even just dreaming… so it’s best that I let you know what’s been happening with Cantrina.
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