In general the winter was cold, the springtime rainy and the summer was dry and warm (but not excessively), during the harvest the weather was good.

MONTEFORTE D’ALPONE (Province of Verona)
Sandro Gini – Azienda Agricola Gini (Soave Classico DOC, Recioto di Soave DOCG):”In the Soave Classico zone the 2009 vintage is to be considered good. We had no hail this year so that the clusters were perfect….Garganega ripens late consequently the grapes were well balanced. We picked Garganega from the first of the month till the 20-22n d of October. We waited for the ripening to be complete. The grapes were flawless and with good aromatic compound precursors. We were able to harvest the grapes at a lower temperature (around 12 degrees C) so that it was not necessary to cool the fermentation vessels. The sugar content was good, the natural alcohol strength was around 12%. The musts fermented without problems. The forecast for the wines is good. Grape yield was slightly lower. Autumn in 2008 (in particular November and December) was rainy so that there was a good supply of water in the soil. In the springtime we had some rain. The vegetative cycle started quickly, but the time of harvest in the end was in the norm. Our vines are 50-100 years old consequently there was no hydric stress as the root system is very deep…”

NEGRAR (Province of Verona):
Antonio Mazzi – Azienda Agricola Mazzi (Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOC, Recioto della Valpolicella Classico DOC, Valpolicella Classico Superiore DOC): “..we had some rain before the harvest, but we picked with good weather. The vines did not suffer from hydric stress as the soil of the vineyards keep water well. It was a good harvest. The Valpolicella (Sanperetto) has good fruit tones, it is full bodied, alcohol strength is average, acidity content is good. We started picking on the 20th September and we finished on the 7-8 October. The forecast for 2009 wines is good. The production regulation for Amarone and Recioto has changed so that now it is allowed to crush the dried grapes starting from the 1st of December (it was previously the 1st of January)……The grape yield this year was slightly lower so that we carried out a lighter green harvest..”

VALDOBBIADENE (Province of Treviso):
Daniele D’Anna nephew of Bruno Bortolotti owner of Cantine Umberto Bortolotti (Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze DOC, Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOC): “…a lovely harvest. It was dry in August, there were two rains at the beginning of September. The viticulturists with whom we work picked from the 8-9 September till the 21st September. The rain at the beginning of September helped the acidity of the must….The musts are clean and very fruity…The grape yield was slightly lower than the previous vintage….”