In general, in this region, the winter was very cold with a lot of snow. There was rain throughout the springtime. The summer was cool. The weather was good during September with a wide night-day temperature range. Please find further details regarding the different zones in Piedmont as follows.

CASTIGLION FALLETTO (Province of Cuneo): The winter was extremely cold with snow. Rainfall was average. During the summer the temperature was lower than usual. The vegetative cycle of the vines was slightly late due to the long winter. The weather during September was good and till mid October there were few rainfalls. This favoured the ripening of the grapes: the vines, Nebbiolo in particular, “worked” very well.

Luigi Scavino and his son Lorenzo of Azienda Agricola Azelia (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC): “We started the harvest on the 16th of September and we finished on the 15th of October (sequence: Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo). The grapes, especially Nebbiolo and Barbera, were perfectly ripe. The yield was average (Dolcetto 7 tons/hectare, Barbera 7 tons/hectare and Nebbiolo 5.5-6 tons/hectare)…The colour and the nose of the wines is excellent: very intense and evident. Alcohol strength is average and the acidity content is good. The quantity of polyphenols is excellent. ….2010 is a “classical” vintage…The malo-lactic fermentation still has to take place, consequently it is difficult to be able to compare 2010 with previous vintages……”

Alfio Cavallotto – Cavallotto Tenuta Bricco Boschis (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe DOC): “The timing of the harvest was average, it was neither early nor late. We picked Dolcetto from the 16th till the 20th of September, Barbera from the 11th till the 14th of October, Nebbiolo from the 14th till the 21st of October. As it was cool during the summer the wines made from varietals that ripen early (i.e. Dolcetto, white varietals) had a lower alcohol strength in comparison to previous vintages. It was the opposite for wines made from varietals that ripen late, such as Nebbiolo. 2010 is an extraordinary vintage for Nebbiolo. Nebbiolo does not need a high temperature to ripen. …Nebbiolo grapes were lovely……After racking off the Nebbiolo base wines were fantastic, very rich in colour and suitable for a long ageing. Dolcetto has a good aromatic intensity, the structure is light and it is very easy to drink. In 2010 maceration with the skins was long (approx. 28 days), as usual. We had to deleaf the vines a bit more this year and we also had to drop more fruit….2010 could be compared a little to 2005……. ”

MONFORTE (Province of Cuneo): The climate in 2010 was different from the previous 10 vintages. For example, during 2003 there were eight very hot weeks during the summer, while in 2010 there were only two very hot weeks. During 2010 rainfall was about three times the rainfall during 2003 (which was particularly dry and hot): consequently the vines never suffered from hydric stress. This is very important as in Piedmont irrigation in the vineyards is not allowed. The climate in 2010 was similar to 1996 and to 1982. It is a “classical” vintage from the climate point of view: snow in the winter, rain in springtime and a medium-warm summer. It was ideal for the ripening of the grapes.

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): ”the clusters were beautiful and flawless. We picked Dolcetto in mid September, Barbera at the end of September and Nebbiolo on the 10th of October. Dolcetto has less alcohol strength in respect to the previous vintages due to the cool weather in August. The quality of the grapes was excellent….The wines, in comparison to 2009, have more intense colour, they are fat in the mouth..This year the maceration with the skins of Nebbiolo was longer, over 20 days. There was a lovely extraction. 2010 is an excellent vintage and could be compared to 2008…….”

Giovanni Manzone and his son Mauro – Azienda Agricola Giovanni Manzone (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC, Langhe Bianco DOC): “We picked from the 15th of September till the 20th of October (sequence: Dolcetto, Barbera, Rossese Bianco, Nebbiolo). The clusters were perfectly ripe. Yield was average…The wines have great colour, lively acidity and good alcohol strength. Quality is a consequence of our very careful work in the vineyard that made all the difference this year. We are proud to say that we have extraordinary products….2010 can be compared to 1996 and to 1982……”

LA MORRA (Province of Cuneo): The winter was extremely cold with snow. There was rain till June, the temperature during the summer was not very high. In September it was warm and sunny till the end of of the month with a good night-day temperature range, after which there were rains. The vegetative cycle of the vines was not early as during the previous vintages.

Silvia Altare – Azienda Agricola Elio Altare (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe Rosso DOC): “Harvest started on the 15t h of September and ended on the 15t h of October (sequence: Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo). The grapes were beautiful. The Nebbiolo grapes were spectacular, we hadn’t seen such lovely grapes for years…The wines are good. Colour, acidity, structure and tannins are good….2010 is an excellent vintage. We could compare this vintage to 2008, to 2009 and to 2007. We produced the whole range of our wines……”

Enzo Revello – Azienda Agricola Fratelli Revello (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC): “In mid September we started picking Dolcetto grapes. At the beginning of October we started with Barbera and Nebbiolo at the same time. It was a good harvest: the quality of the grapes was good, the quality of Nebbiolo grapes was excellent. The yield was slightly lower than in other vintages. Alcohol strength of the wines is slightly lower than in the previous vintages, acidity and pH are average…it is still too early to be able to compare 2010 with other vintages…”

Marco Marengo – Azienda Agricola Mario Marengo (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC) “We picked Dolcetto from on the 15th of September, Barbera on the 29th of September and Nebbiolo from the 8th till the 20th of October. The grapes were beautiful and flawless, the quality very high. The yield is slightly lower as the berries were smaller. The wines have great colour and aroma. 2010 is a lovely vintage. The growers in Piedmont are lucky as there has been a series of good vintages from 2004….”

SERRALUNGA (Province of Cuneo): In 2010 rainfall was higher than usual. It was not a warm vintage. During the winter there was snow, during the springtime it was rainy. There were rains in July, August and at the beginning of September. The vines had a good water supply.

Giampaolo Pira of Azienda Agricola Pira Luigi & Figli (Barolo DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC): “We picked Dolcetto from the 15t h till the 20t h of September, Barbera from the 30t h of September till the beginning of October and Nebbiolo from the 10t h till the 20t h of October. The quality of the grapes was good. The yield was average. 2010 is a “classical” vintage. The wines have good acidity, they are fresh and mineral. Maceration with the skins for Nebbiolo was longer (10-15 days in rotary fermentors). They have slightly less structure than the ones of the previous vintages, but are fresh and elegant. 2010 can be compared to 2008 and to 2009……”

BARBARESCO (Province of Cuneo): Springtime was very rainy, but luckily the temperature was normal and it was airy so that there were no problems with downy mildew (peronospora). The weather during July and August was normal. During September there was an excellent night-day temperature range so that, although there were a few rains, the grapes had no disease.

Sergio Minuto and his daughter Martina of Azienda Agricola Moccagatta (Barbaresco DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Langhe Chardonnay DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC): ”On the 11t h of September we started picking Chardonnay, on the 14t h of September Dolcetto, on the 28t h of September Barbera, on the 30t h of September the Nebbiolo for Barbaresco Cole, on the 2n d of October the Nebbiolo for Barbaresco Basarin, and from the 6t h till the 12t h of October the Nebbiolo for Barbaresco Bric Balin. The grapes were perfectly ripe. Grape yield was: Chardonnay 6 tons/hectare, Dolcetto 6 tons/hectare, Barbera 7 tons/hectare and Barbaresco 5.5 tons/hectare. The alcohol strength of the wines is slightly lower. The acidity and colour are excellent, the wines are easy to drink right now and they are also suitable for long ageing…Although 2010 was a difficult vintage, we consider it an excellent/great vintage (when the correct vineyard management was carried out)…2010 is similar to 1998 and a little similar to 2009.. ”

Daniela Rocca – Azienda Agricola Albino Rocca (Barbaresco DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Langhe Bianco DOC, Langhe Chardonnay DOC, Moscato d’Asti DOCG, Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Vino da Tavola del Piemonte): “..we started picking Moscato on the 10t h of September and we finished the harvest on the 10t h of October. Sequence: Moscato, Chardonnay, Dolcetto, Cortese, then we picked Barbera and Nebbiolo alternately…The grapes were beautifully ripe and we waited to pick in order to have perfect phenolic ripening. Yield was 30/50 hectolitres of wine/hectare. Alcolhol strength of the wines is 0.5 to 1 % lower than in 2009 and this is positive for the market, especially for Dolcetto. The wines are “easier”. The forecast for the wines is excellent….2010 is an excellent vintage…….”

ROERO (Province of Cuneo): 2010 was distinguished by alternating warm and cold weather. The grapes ripened late in respect to the previous vintages, but they ripened in line with the vintages before 1996. During harvest the weather was good which made the grapes ripen perfectly.

Azienda Agricola Matteo Correggia (Roero DOCG, Roero Arneis DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Langhe Bianco DOC, Langhe Rosso DOC, Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC): “We picked from the 5th of September to the 15th of October (sequence: Arneis, Sauvignon, Brachetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo). The clusters were perfectly ripe. The yield was: Arneis 10 tons/hectare; Barbera 6 tons/hectare and Nebbiolo 5 tons/hectare. ….The wines are very well balanced, the acidity is good and well balanced, the Nebbiolo base wines have slightly less colour, alcohol strength is slightly lower than in the previous vintages. Starting from the 2010 vintage we decided to make a part of Barbera Marun and a part of Nebbiolo Val dei Preti in large 30 Hectolitre oak casks (instead of entirely in barriques). This in order to further enhance the finesse and elegance that is typical of the wines of the Roero. Nebbiolo d’Alba Val dei Preti will become Roero DOCG starting from the 2010 vintage. 2010 has been a unique vintage from the climate point of view. One could find the elegance and the pleasantness of the 2008 vintage in these wines. The Roero zone has soils that are mainly sandy and loose which, during rainy vintages, can drain water very well and they also get warm very quickly….2010 is a very good vintage..”.

GATTINARA (Province of Vercelli): 2010, from the climate point of view, was quite unusual. The winter was very cold, rainy, with snow and with little sun. Springtime was cold, April was cold. In May it was rainy. There was summer weather only from the end of June till the end of July. August was cool with rain. At the end of August there was a week/10 days with warm weather. In September the weather was alternately sunny and rainy, but the weather during harvest was good.

Alberto Zoppis – Azienda Agricola Antoniolo (Gattinara DOCG, Coste della Sesia DOC, Erbaluce di Caluso DOC): “The wines are good, with a lot of aromas, good colour and good tannins with slightly less structure than in previous vintages. They are fine and elegant. ..We have vineyards with an excellent exposure so that the vines catch the sun and there is no waterlogging (the soils have good drainage). We never had problems with rain. We started harvesting on the 8t h of October and finished on the 15t h of October, slightly late. This year all the phenological phases of the vines were late. We harvested early in order to have good weather. The day after we finished picking it started to rain. The clusters were perfect. 2010 could remind one of 2006….”

DOGLIANI (Province of Cuneo): 2010 started with a winter during which there was a lot of snow that fell till mid March and this was quite unusual. Consequently there was a good water supply in the soil. During the rest of the springtime there were sunny days and quite heavy rains, especially during the month of June up to the 21st /22 nd of the month. The weather during the month of July was very good and made it possible for the vines to recover the delay of 8-10 days in the vegetative growth that was accumulated during the previous months. The month of August was cool for the first 15 days with a heavy downpour on the 14th, but the second part of the month was warm and sunny so that the grapes ripened well.

Paolo Boschis – Azienda Agricola Francesco Boschis (Dolcetto di Dogliani DOC, Dogliani DOCG, Barbera d’Alba DOC, Pienonte Barbera DOC, Langhe Freisa DOC, Piemonte Grignolino DOC, Langhe Bianco DOC):”We started the harvest with Sauvignon Blanc on the 17t h of September and we finished with Freisa in the 8t h of October. The quality of the grapes was good as we performed a very careful thinning out of the clusters and we deleafed the wines at the beginning of September…..The wines, at the present moment, are very rich in colour and alcohol strength is quite high. Acidity is also quite high due to the fact that in August the weather was cool, but, as the malolactic fermentation has not yet taken place, the percentage of malic acid will get lower during the next month. The forecast for 2010 is good…We produced the whole range of wines…. The climate during 2010 was quite unique, maybe it could be similar to 2008, although the wines are quite different…..One could say that it is a way in between 2007 and 2008……..”

CAPRIATA D’ORBA (Monferrato – Province of Alessandria) The winter was cold with snow. The springtime was quite rainy till June. Rainfall during springtime was similar to tropical monsoons: intense rain for a short period of time followed by good weather. The vegetative cycle of the vines started slightly later. The weather during the summer was lovely so that the vines recovered the lost time and the next phases (veraison and ripening) were in line with the previous vintages. From the 15t h of August till the 15t h of September it was warm during the day and cold at night.

Andrea Massone – Azienda Agricola Stefano Massone (Gavi DOCG): ”.. ripening of the clusters was fenomenal! The grapes were flawless. It rained during the flowering phase so that grape yield was lower in the more exposed areas and higher in the more protected ones, but the average yield was normal. We tasted the wines at length with our oenologist who compared 2010 to 2005 and to 2006. 2010 is quite a unique vintage with a Gavi as it was in origin: good alcohol strength, more acidity, very fruity, some tanks had an aroma of green apples….We deleafed the vines quite early as there was a lot of vegetation. The leaf of Cortese is large, so that the clusters, after deleafing, could “breath” better and could be better exposed to the sun and to the wind. According to me 2010 could be similar to 2003 considering alcohol strength and to 2006 considering aroma…I had never seen such a Gavi! We picked from the 12/15t h of September till the 25/26t h of the month….”