This has been a difficult year, both in terms of planning the harvest and as regards the quantity of grapes produced, although this will not affect the quality of the next Lugana vintage.
The statement by Emiliano Rossi, the oenologist of the Malavasi wine estate, based in Pozzolengo in the province of Brescia, a stone’s throw away from Lake Garda, is very clear.
“As far as production is concerned,“ says Rossi “there appears to be less grapes than last year, when the harvest was already not very good. Today, we can say that it will certainly be among the latest harvests that we can remember. In fact, we presume we will harvest our grapes in October.”
Relatively low temperatures, compared to the seasonal norm, have lengthened the time needed for the grapes to mature: “We hope,“ comments Daniele Malavasi, the owner of the estate “that this will enhance the aromatic flavour in the white grapes used to produce our wines.”
As regards red grapes, veraison was completed a few days ago and the harvest would seem to be delayed by at least 20 days.
“We think,” say Rossi and Malavasi “that this vintage could yield fine, elegant wines with a good structure, although their alcohol content will probably not be very high. Even sparkling wine base wines will go back to having a lower alcohol content and a more acidic texture.
