In general springtime was late and it was rainy till mid June. The weather after was warm and dry. The weather during September and October was excellent, the conditions during harvest were therefore optimal. We had good reports from all the producers of our portfolio.

SAN PANCRAZIO (Province of Florence)
Riccardo Galli agronomist-oenologist of Fattoria di Lucignano (Chianti Colli Fiorentini DOCG)”….ripening of the clusters was excellent, quantity was slightly lower. The harvest period was in the norm (neither early nor late). There were no disease nor parasite problems. We expect high quality of the wines. We picked from the 20th of September till the 10th of October…”

Giacomo Mori owner of the homonymous estate: “ A good harvest. Sangiovese ripened later in comparison to previous vintages (when it ripened early). In fact this year the harvest period was “normal”. We picked Merlot around the 10th of September, Sangiovese was harvested from the beginning of October till the 12th of the month. It was dry during harvest (there was only one rainfall around the 10- 12 of October, but this was good for Sangiovese). There was wind and this prevented the forming of mould….”

MONTI IN CHIANTI (Province of Siena)
Luca Martini – San Giusto a Rentennano (Chianti Classico DOCG)”…quality of Chianti Classico is good and the quality of the “selection” wines is extraordinary. The ripening of the grapes was excellent. ….We had rains till June (which showed that organic viticulture works) then the weather was good till the 15th of August when a good rainfall gave a boost to the clusters. We started picking Merlot on the 23rd of September and we finished on the 9th of October….”

PANZANO (Province of Florence)
Luca Orsini owner of Le Cinciole (Chianti Classico DOCG) “………There was a lot of rain during springtime followed by a dry summer, consequently the plants did not suffer. The first two weeks of September were very warm, which accelerated the ripening of grapes (balancing the fact that budding was two weeks late). The good weather during harvest made it possible to choose the best time for picking and we harvested between the 6th and 12th of October….We are very happy, Sangiovese was nice and ripe…phenolic ripening was right….Grape yield was in the norm……”

MURLO (Province of Siena)
Ranuccio Neri owner of Azienda Agricola Campriano (Chianti Colli Senesi DOCG)”……….The harvest went well and the weather was excellent (wind and sun). The ripening of grapes was very good and the yield was also good. I am very happy. It is a good vintage. .. On the 18th of September we picked the white varietals and from the 22nd to the 1st of October we picked the red varietals….”

MONTALCINO (Province of Siena)
Andrea Cortonesi owner of Azienda Agricola Uccelliera (Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Rosso di Montalcino DOC): ”…….the rain on the 15t h of August helped the “veraison” (when the grapes change colour) to be complete. The excellent weather that followed made the grapes perfectly ripe at harvest. We started picking on the 24-25t h of September and we finished on the 15t h of October. Alcohol content is excellent, good acidity content, which is ideal for wines to be aged. The wines have a good colour, with nice tones and intensity. The grape yield was slightly lower that usual…”

Lorenzo Sassetti co-owner of Azienda Agricola Sassetti Livio Pertimali Uccelliera (Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Rosso di Montalcino DOC):”We are satisfied with the harvest which was excellent. The clusters were flawless. The harvest was later in comparison to the previous vintages. The acidity and alcohol percentage are good. ….Excellent poliphenol and sugar content….We started picking on the 26t h of September at Cinigiano, our estate in Maremma, and continued in Montalcino the following week finishing on the 8t h of October. ……We had good weather during the whole harvest. Fermentation was long and progressive….In this way we had an optimal extraction of aroma and of fruit….”

S. GIMIGNANO (Province of Siena)
Simone Santini owner of Tenuta Le Calcinaie (Vernaccia di S. Gimignano DOCG, S. Gimignano DOC, Chianti Colli Senesi DOC):”It has been a good harvest. The grapes were flawless. Good forecast for the 2008 wines. We started picking Vernaccia on the 9t h of September and we finished on the 7-8t h withSangiovese….”

CARMIGNANO (Province of Prato)
Beppe Rigoli of Fattoria Ambra (Carmignano DOCG, Barco Reale DOC, Vin Santo di Carmignano DOC, Rosato di Carmignano DOC): ”The harvest was as usual 10-15 days early in comparison to the highest zones of Chianti Classico confirming the characteristics of the area…..The vegetative cycle, though, was not shorter, as budding was also early…. As the summer was quite dry, hydric stress of the plants had to be controlled through agronomic practices. On the other hand a controlled hydric stress is also the basis for a high quality wine production, even though yield may be lower. …..Another very important feature of the 2008 harvest is the temperature at harvest. In fact, at the end of September/beginning of October temperatures at night and even during the daytime were lower than usual. This made it possible to better control the start up of the fermentation process and make it more even…..It is still early to judge the wines: but after the first racking the wines seem very aromatic, the acidity content is excellent, the colour is bright even for Sangiovese, complexity is good/excellent, the ripeness of tannins is also excellent….”

MONTEPULCIANO (Province of Siena)
Sabina Labrusco of Azienda Agricola Dei (Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG, Rosso di Montepulciano DOC) “..the harvest was good: the grapes were flawless and perfectly ripe. We started with the white varietals during the first week of September. We picked the red varietals from mid September till the 19th of October. We had to stop once due to a rainfall……”

Beppe Rigoli consulting agronomist and oenologist for Tenuta di della Seta (Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG, Rosso di Montepulciano DOC): “…It was a good harvest. In this area the summer was without rain, but there was a good water supply from springtime. The wines are balanced, elegant, the acidity content and the structure are good….”

EMPOLI (Province of Florence)
Rolando Bettarini of Fattoria di Piazzano (Chianti DOCG, Vin Santo DOC): “It was a good harvest…..it was carried out in excellent conditions…The clusters were flawless, yield was slightly lower than last year. The quality of 2008 wines is extremely good…We started on the 15-20 October and we finished around the 10t h October..”

ROCCASTRADA (Province of Grosseto)
Francesco Falciani of Azienda Agricola I Campetti (Monteregio di Massa Marittima DOC):”The harvest was good. We had rain till June and then the weather was good, but not too hot, so that ripening was slow and complete. The quality is very good, the wines are elegant, the vintage is balanced. We started on th 25t h of August and we finished at the beginning of October…”

MAGLIANO (Province of Grosseto)
Roberto da Valle oenologist of Fattoria di Magliano (Morellino di Scansano DOC):”..the harvest went very well…The ripening of the grapes was perfect. Quality is exceptional….We are very happy. At the end of August we picked Merlot and white varietals, at the beginning of September we harvested Syrah, on the 10t h of September Sangiovese, we finished with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.”