Valpolicella Ripasso DOC La Groletta 2019

Harvest 2019 began in mid-September and ended in mid-October, returning us to a more ‘classic’ harvest schedule than in recent years. Overall it was a vintage characterized by a mild winter. Temperatures fell to below 0°C on just a few nights in January, whilst peaks of 10°C were recorded both in early December and in early January. The soils were therefore still ‘workable’, so and we took the opportunity to aerate them with some superficial subsoil tilling. Between the end of March and the beginning of April, temperatures settled above 10°C and the vine’s new vegetative cycle began. The absence of significant rainfall during budding considerably reduced the impact of the main pathogen: downy mildew. In May, the scenario changed abruptly, with the advent of considerable wet weather and very low, practically winter-like temperatures. One need only think, for example, of the poor year for olive trees. The real difference came with the summer, especially in our hillside and upper-hillside vineyards, where temperatures remained below 30/32°C. This is also why we expect wines with exceptional finesse and elegance.