2022 Vintage and Harvest Report
2022 vintage was a very particular one from a climatic point of view. After an autumn that was rainier than the historical average, we had a significantly dry winter with average temperatures. Spring was also dry and rather cold, at a point that the budding of the vine occurred towards the end of April, unlike previous years in which it took place before the middle of the same month. The summer was very hot and dry, as experienced across the European continent. The month of September made 2022 different from other similar vintages, as an above average rainfall brought the drought index back to normal levels, turning the season almost into a cool one, for the vines that were still to be harvested.
A demanding vintage from an agronomic point of view, with a summer in which we tried to do everything possible to mitigate the impact of drought and extreme heat on our vineyards, by applying all the techniques useful for the purpose ( such as maintaining the vegetation cover of the soils created by green manure/cover crops practiced in the previous winter, the use of natural substances aimed at reducing the risk of burns – kaolin- and improving the resistance of plants to abiotic stress -brown algae preparations- as well as of the canopy management aimed at protecting the bunches as much as possible from direct exposure to the sun during the hottest hours).
Even from a phytosanitary point of view it was not an easy year: first the powdery mildew and then the grapevine moth were adversities that required the utmost attention right up to the harvest time.
The harvest began, as usual, with the Chardonnay destined for the sparkling wine base at the end of the first ten days of August; the Verdicchio destined for the same purpose was harvested immediately after August 15th. At the end of the same month, we began harvesting the Verdicchio grapes destined for the Villa Bianchi label and the Pecorino in Abruzzo. The harvest of the white grapes was completed at the end of the second ten days of September. As for the red grapes, the harvest began with the Merlot around September 10th and finished with the Montepulciano grapes, both in le Marche and in Abruzzo, at the end of the first week of October.
2022 was, beyond all expectations, a good vintage, both from a quantitative and qualitative point of view in those plots which, due to the nature of the soil and exposure, were able to better overcome the stress deriving from the great heat; whereas a little bit scarcer in the areas that are more clayey and exposed to the south (where the season put the vines in difficulty already at the end of June). Obviously, among the vines that have better tolerated heat stress there is certainly the Montepulciano, which has given us excellent results, both in le Marche and in Abruzzo.
