MATELICA (Province of Macerata): The winter was mild and rainy. There were rains throughout the springtime and the summer. The weather was good from mid September onwards.

Aroldo Belelli consulting agronomist/oenologist of Azienda Agraria Bisci (Verdicchio di Matelica DOC, Marche Rosso IGT). ”…we started picking Merlot on the 1st of October, followed by Sangiovese and then Verdicchio. We finished on the 20th of October. We follow organic practices in the vineyards (the estate is in the conversion phase to certified organic). This year we worked very hard in the vineyards: we deleafed the vines in order to make the air move around the clusters and we dropped fruit more than in the previous vintages in order to obtain a low grape yield. We had very good results on the Verdicchio wines: the wines are drinkable, with a good acidity and with good aromatics. The good acidity makes them particularly suitable for a long ageing. The 2014 Verdicchio wines are wines with a definite character. We obtained good results even on the red varietals thanks to the low grape yield achieved by dropping fruit…………”

JESI (Province of Macerata): There was a lot of rain during the winter, in the springtime and in the month of July. The temperature was mild throughout the year and cool in the summer. There was good weather and it was warm in September. In October there were summer temperatures.

Giulio Piazzini agronomist-oenologist of Tenuta di Tavignano (Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore DOC, Rosso Piceno DOC, Marche IGT):”…due to the mild temperature the cycle of the vines was slow. This was very positive for the Verdicchio grapes. The vine training system for Verdicchio is usually Guyot, but at Tavignano we use cordon spur that lowers the grape yield. We managed to have a good alcoholic strength and a good ripeness. We are very satisfied with the white wines, which have a great aromatic potential. Verdicchio wines evolve very slowly. The Montepulciano grapes ripened after mid October. This year we dropped fruit in the Montepulciano vineyards so that we obtained a good result. The Sangiovese grapes produced wines with a slightly lower alcoholic strength. The colour is what we wanted as we blend Sangiovese wines with Montepulciano wines which have a very intense colour. 2014 is a “fresh” vintage and it is very interesting for white wines due to the cool temperature in the summer and to the good weather in September and in October. We worked very well in the vineyards so that we did not have problems due to humidity. We started to pick Merlot (which we use to produce a vino Novello), then we continued with the Verdicchio grapes in mid September till the beginning of October. We then picked Sangiovese, Lacrima, Cabernet and Montepulciano. We finished harvesting on the 20-21st of October….We are satisfied with the 2014 wines…..”

NUMANA (Province of Ancona): The winter was mild and rainy. The vines started budding early, as it was warm during the springtime, but then the vegetative cycle slowed down due to the cool and rainy weather at the end of spring and in the summer. Luckily the weather was very good from mid September onwards

Azienda Agricola Le Terrazze – Georgina Terni owner of the estate (Rosso Conero DOC, Conero DOCG, Marche IGT):”we started picking Chardonnay on the 29th of August, we then continued with Syrah and Merlot. We started picking Montepulciano at the end of September and we will finish the harvest today (21st of October). We are satisfied with the harvest. At the beginning of September we proceeded with a massive deleafing of the vines and we mowed the grass on the aisles between the rows. This gave very good results. This harvest was very demanding, it was a challenge, but I like challenges. Although the sugar content of the grapes was a bit lower, the phenolic ripening of the clusters was good (the tannins were ripe). The forecast for the wines is good…….”

CIVITANOVA MARCHE (Province of Macerata): It was quite warm during the winter and there was rain throughout the springtime and throughout the summer.

Elvio Alessandri owner of Azienda Agricola Boccadigabbia (Rosso Piceno DOC, Colli Maceratesi Ribona DOC, Marche IGT) …the harvest was late this year, we started picking at the end of August and we finished on the 11th-12th of October..The harvest was slow as we carefully selected the clusters going through the vineyards a few times. The grape yield was lower than usual. We had good results on the Montepulciano wines, which are elegant, with good aromatics, good acidity and good colour. The whites are also good, with good aromatics and good freshness. The alcoholic strength of all wines is slightly lower in comparison to previous vintages. We changed our oenologist and we are now working with Emilio Falsini. We carried out cold maceration on the whites….”

PERGOLA (Province of Pesaro and Urbino): The climate during the winter was mild. The vines started their vegetation cycle early. At the beginning of the springtime the weather was good after which it became humid with light, but frequent rain. After the 10th of September the weather was good.

Francesco Tonelli owner of Fattoria Villa Ligi (Pergola Rosso DOC, Pergola Passito DOC):”…we had to select the clusters of the varieties that ripen early, such as the Vernaccia Rossa di Pergola, in the vineyard before and during the harvest. We did not have problems with mould. We worked very hard in the vineyards. The alcoholic strength of the wines is slightly lower and we produced less quantity, but the quality is good. We picked the Vernaccia Rossa di Pergola on the 7th, 8th and 9th of September…”

CASTELNUOVO MAGRA (Province of La Spezia): The winter was mild and rainy. In the springtime the vegetative cycle of the vines started earlier than usual. At the end of the springtime and at the beginning of the summer it was rainy. The summer was quite cool, but luckily the weather during August and September was good.

Roberto Petacchi owner of Azienda Agricola Giacomelli (Colli di Luni Vermentino DOC, Colli di Luni Rosso DOC, Liguria di Levante IGT): “..we started picking on the 2nd of September with the white varieties and we finished on the 20th of September with the reds. The harvest was 10 days earlier than usual and it was much better than we expected. This year we had a higher yield of grapes, as we have new vineyards that started to produce. Between the 17th and the 20th of August we dropped fruit. During the harvest we go through the vineyards up to three times in order to pick only ripe grapes. The whites have good aromatics, good freshness, the alcoholic strength is slightly lower (about 0.5 degrees Celsius). The forecast is good. After racking off the white wines we carry out bâtonnage till December. We produced all the wines of our range. 2014 can be compared to 2007….”