Vintage 2023 was characterized by excessive early summer rain which raised levels of humidity in the vineyard, increasing the risk of downy mildew. Our permanent natural grass cover helped absorb the rain and mitigate the humidity to a certain degree, but nonetheless the Verdicchio vines were hit hard and about 25% of the production was lost.  The Trebbiano and Malvasia varietals are quite resistant and performed well throughout the season.  The rain slowed the ripening process, so in August we removed leaf cover around the clusters to increase sun exposure. After a careful selection of which clusters to bring to full ripening, the grapes were harvested between September 8th and October 1st, two weeks later compared to 2022, but with the same sugar levels, testimony to the cooler growing season.

Vintage 2022 was characterized by extreme heat and extreme draught. From May 1st to September 1st there wasn’t a drop of rain. Nevertheless, our vigorous old vines performed great thanks to their deep and well-established root system and we continued with our dry farming. To protect the fruit from potential heat burn we left a bit extra leaf cover on the vines through the summer, only to uncover the clusters just before harvest which came very early as maturation was well ahead of schedule. The Trebbiano and Malvasia first pass was on August 27th, and the second pass was on September 17th. Despite the early harvest, sugar levels exceeded those of 2021.

Vintage 2021 was our first vintage, so by all measures a memorable year. We set foot in the vineyard for winter pruning on January 1st, and our lives changed forever. A relatively dry winter was followed by an early spring bud break as temperatures increased quite quickly. Despite the threat of an extremely hot summer, temperatures were warm but not exceedingly, with an average amount of rainfall. Maturity was in line with our initial expectations The first harvest pass for the Trebbiano and Malvasia was on September 2nd and the late Trebbiano and Malvasia pass was on September 27th. The early harvest presented exceptional acidity which persisted to the second harvest, setting the stage for the identity of the Pietro 17 Marche Bianco characterized by the calcareous clay soil.