There was a lot of snow in the winter, springtime was rainy, July and August were hot. There was good weather in September, a part from a few days of rain. The vines could count on a good supply of water.

CASTIGLION FALLETTO (Province of Cuneo)
Luigi Scavino owner of Azienda Agricola Azelia (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC): “It was a good harvest with good weather. At first it seemed to be an early harvest as we started picking Dolcetto grapes sooner than usual, but in the end it was only slightly early (wefinish ed picking Nebbiolo grapes on the 15th of October). There was only one day of rain during the harvest. At the moment we are devatting (28th of October). This year there was no hail, in May and in June it was cool, in August it was hot and it was warm during the first 15 days of September. After that it was cool at night with a good night-day temperature range…..The 2009 vintage is very good. The wines are well balanced with good acidity. The forecast is positive. The grapes were flawless and fully ripe: this is always a good start.”

Alfio Cavallotto – Cavallotto Tenuta Bricco Boschis (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe DOC): “The harvest went very well. The vines did not suffer from hydric stress. During the harvest it never rained. The 2009 vintage is a very good one and it is comparable to 2001. This year it was better to wait, and the growers who did so obtained good results. It was cold at night during the last two weeks of September therefore there was a complete polyphenolic ripening of the berries (Barbera and Nebbiolo grapes). The whites (harvest started on the 30/08) and Dolcetto (harvested during the first week of September) were picked very early, Barbera (harvest between the end of September and the beginning of October) and Nebbiolo grapes (harvest 2/10-11/10) were picked one week earlier than usual. The wines are well balanced, alcohol strength is average, acidity content is good, colour is balanced, but not too intense (as in 2001). We usually carry out very long macerations with the skins, but this year we carried out shorter ones (22-25 days maximum) in order not to extract green tannins. The 2009 wines will be extremely good…”

MONFORTE (Province of Cuneo)
Gian Matteo Raineri an oenologist who works with Domenico Clerico at the homonymous estate (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Langhe Dolcetto DOC, Langhe Rosso DOC): ”This is a classic vintage from a climate point of view: snow in winter, rain in springtime and sun in summer. The wines have great colour and structure. The wines made with Nebbiolo grapes have very fine tannins and are well balanced and elegant. A great and beautiful vintage.. We started picking Dolcetto grapes on the 7th September, Barbera on the 21st September, Nebbiolo on the 15th October and we finished on the 25th of October….It rained before we started harvesting Nebbiolo and this favoured full ripening of the polyphenols. It is a well-balanced vintage similar to 2001..”

Riccardo Seghesio co-owner of Azienda Agricola Aldo e Riccardo Seghesio (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC, Langhe Rosso DOC): “The harvest went well: we always had good weather that let us work. It is a very well-balanced vintage. We had no hail. The alcohol content of the wines is good (Nebbiolo base wines 14.5%, Barbera 14.5%, Dolcetto 13.5%). The vegetation of the vines was beautiful, the soil had a good water supply. Fruit production was very high, in some areas we had to green harvest 50% of the clusters. We picked Dolcetto grapes on the 10-15t h September, we continued with Barbera and we finished picking Nebbiolo on the 10t h of October”.

LA MORRA (Province of Cuneo)
Silvia Altare – Azienda Agricola Elio Altare (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe Rosso DOC): ): “..it has been a wonderful harvest… We started picking Dolcetto grapes on the 27t h of August (nearly 2 weeks early in comparison to the previous vintages), then we picked Barbera grapes and we finished with Nebbiolo (the grapes were picked from the 1st to the 15t h of October). There was good weather throughout harvest. Clusters were flawless and the wines have a good structure and good alcohol strength…..The forecast for 2009 wines is good..”

Revello – Azienda Agricola Fratelli Revello (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC): “The climate in 2009 was favourable. It is a good vintage for all wines. The wines have a good acidity content, good structure and they are well balanced….We started on the 7th of September with Dolcetto grapes, then we interrupted the harvest for two weeks, we continued with Barbera and Nebbiolo grapes, which were picked according to ripening, and we finished on the 8th of October. In total we harvested for one month…The result is positive.”

SERRALUNGA (Province of Cuneo)
Giampaolo Pira of Azienda Agricola Pira Luigi & Figli (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC): “There was a strong vegetative development of the vines due to the snow in winter and the rains during springtime. The temperature during the summer was normal and the weather during harvest was good (except for two days of rain in mid September). This made Nebbiolo grapes complete ripening. The clusters were flawless at harvest. 2009 is a great vintage for Dolcetto, Barbera and Barolo. After devatting Nebbiolo wines had excellent tannins..The wines all have good acidity and good alcohol strength. We picked Dolcetto grapes between the 10t h and the 15t h of September, the Barbera grapes between the 23r d and the 25t h September and Nebbiolo grapes between the 10t h and the 15t h October.”

BARBARESCO (Province of Cuneo)
Sergio Minuto owner of Azienda Agricola Moccagatta (Barbaresco DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Langhe Chardonnay DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC): “…Chardonnay and Dolcetto grapes were flawless and rich in sugar. Also Barbera and Nebbiolo grapes were beautiful. The rains that fell in mid September made Barbera and Nebbiolo complete ripening. ….Due to the summer heat the colour of Nebbiolo base wines is slightly less intense in comparison to previous vintages, but the acidity is good and the aromatic spectrum is complete. The analysis of the grapes showed low acidity for the white varietals and for Dolcetto, but acidity got higher during fermentation. The acidity of Dolcetto is more than 5 g/l after malolactic fermentation and stabilization. Barbera should have an acidity of 6.5 after malolactic and Nebbiolo should reach an acidity under 6 with 14.5 % alcohol strength. The wines are well balanced..It is another great vintage: grape yield was lower (but this was a choice of the estate) consequently the quality of the wines is high. The whites were picked at the end of August. Dolcetto grapes were picked at the beginning of September, Barbera was harvested starting on the 20t h of September (there were 3 days of rain before and we had to wait for the grapes and for the soil to dry), we finished the harvest with Nebbiolo grapes at the beginning of October…”

ROERO (Province of Cuneo)
Luca Rostagno Cellar Master of Azienda Agricola Matteo Correggia (Roero DOC, Roero Arneis DOC, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Langhe Bianco DOC, Langhe Rosso DOC, Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC) “This is a vintage with a lot of water due to the heavy spring rains. The climate has been favourable all year round. Towards the end of the summer the water supply in the soil was low, but luckily it rained around the 10t h of September and this re-balanced the vines. It has been a beautiful harvest (it lasted for fourty days in total and we could pick without rushing). The whites are wonderful and fat. The Nebbiolo base wines are also lovely with an interesting colour. The yield was average for the white varietals, we had to green harvest 50% of the fruit in the Barbera vineyards. As the yield of Nebbiolo grapes was low, we only had to carry out a light green harvest. Alcohol strength of the wines is not excessive (around 14-14.5%), acidity is good in the Barbera (the wines have a very pleasant salty tone), Nebbiolo wines have a normal acidity content (7-8 g/l before malolactic). We started picking Sauvignon grapes on the 3r d of September, we continued with Arneis on the 9-10-11 September, then Brachetto on the 12/09, there was an interruption after which we harvested Barbera followed by Nebbiolo. We finished on the 9 October (in some cases we harvested Nebbiolo vineyards before Barbera). Some vineyards were harvested in 2-3 phases…”

GATTINARA (Province of Vercelli):
Alberto Zoppis – Azienda Agricola Antoniolo (Gattinara DOCG, Coste della Sesia DOC, Erbaluce di Caluso DOC): “In general the harvest was good in this area, but our vineyards were struck by hail (there were two hailstorms in May-June that hit the clusters, but the wood and the shoots of the vines were not damaged) we consequently had a low yield, but the quality of the wines is very good. The reason for the hailstorms was that the winter was cold with a lot of snow, in May there still was snow at an altitude of 2,000 mts (therefore quite low). The southern warm air currents from the flatland collided with the cold air currents from the mountains causing hail. This year we made white wines (the vineyards in Caluso were not struck by hail), the Rosato, the Nebbiolo, the Gattinara S. Francesco and the Gattinara Osso S. Grato (we did not make Gattinara Castelle nor the “regular” Gattinara). We started picking on the 27t h September and we finished on the 2n d of October. The wines have intense colour, are very aromatic, the tannins are supple, the alcohol strength is right, acidity content is average. The 2009 vintage is from good to excellent.

DOGLIANI (Province of Cuneo)
Paolo Boschis – Azienda Agricola Francesco Boschis (Dolcetto di Dogliani DOC, Dogliani DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Langhe Freisa DOC, Piemonte Grignolino DOC, Langhe Bianco DOC): “….the clusters were flawless, there were no disease problems. The Dolcetto wines have good alcohol strength, are full-bodied and have an elegant aroma. We have to see the evolution of the tannins (it is still early). We probably will have to wait a bit longer before drinking the wines of this vintage. The Barbera wines have a good structure…”