For those of us who work in wine, harvest doesn’t begin with the first bunch of grapes we pick. In a way, the countdown starts as soon as the previous harvest ends: from that moment on, everything we do is a gradual build-up to the next one.
For this episode of the Journal, I’ve handed the microphone to Alessio Sostegni, our winemaker, to talk us through the run-up to harvest: what he’s watching in the vineyard right now, how the season is shaping up, where we’ll need to pay particular attention, and what it means to interpret different grapes without losing sight of what makes Poggio Antico, Poggio Antico.
Alessio, with harvest just a few weeks away, what are you keeping the closest eye on?
Last-minute flights and preschool checklists!
Joking aside, we’re finishing up the last of the pre-harvest maintenance in the cellar. It’s a very practical stage – checking everything, getting organised and preparing the spaces, because once the grapes start coming in, everything needs to be ready.
At the same time, we’ve started sampling grapes from the different plots so we can get a more precise picture of where we are in terms of ripening. We’re running slightly ahead of historical averages this year, so it’s important to follow things closely, parcel by parcel.
How has the season been so far, and what kind of grapes do you think it’s giving us?
It’s been a season of extremes. We went from winter to summer almost overnight, barely stopping for spring along the way.
Even so, and despite the high temperatures, the vines aren’t showing any obvious signs of water stress. The little rain we’ve had was probably well absorbed by the soils, and deep roots and healthy vines have done the rest.
With Sangiovese, though, the final two weeks before picking are crucial, so it’s still too early to draw any firm conclusions. Personally, I’m expecting wines that will show good balance from the outset and won’t need too much ageing to come together.
When you taste the grapes in the vineyard, what are the signs that really matter to you?
The taste, definitely.
When you taste a grape and immediately want another one, it’s time to pick. It might sound almost too simple, but for me it’s a pretty reliable test: if the grape tastes right, chances are everything else is where it should be too – balanced analytical parameters, the right skin texture, good acidity and crunchy seeds.
Analysis matters, of course, but tasting is still essential if you really want to understand where you are.
Is there a technical decision you think will require particular attention this year?
With such an intense growing season, we may see more variation within individual bunches.
That’s why we’ve decided to test a new prototype for optical berry sorting, so we can be even more precise at this stage. Selection is always important, but in a year like this it can become an essential tool for staying as true as possible to what comes in from the vineyard.
Thinking about the different wines we make, do you already look at the grapes differently for each one before harvest?
Getting the grapes to the right level of ripeness is fundamental if each parcel is going to show its full potential. Understanding the fruit we’re starting with also gives us a fairly clear idea, even before harvest, of how we’ll approach vinification for each plot. Every parcel has a direction it can take – our job is to recognise it rather than force it.
The same applies to the wines. Rosso, Brunello, Riserva and Vigna I Poggi don’t all call for the same approach. The same grapes can play very different roles depending on how you read them and how you vinify them.
Has this season made anything about the way we work particularly clear to you?
It’s becoming increasingly clear to me that making wine is a bit like being a parent: the attention and care have to be constant, from harvest all the way to the glass, for every wine we make.
Each one has its own character and needs to be treated accordingly. For example, there would be no point giving grapes from the lower-lying vineyards a long maceration in the hope of eventually using them in the Brunello blend. Handle those same grapes more gently, though, and they become essential to our Rosso di Montalcino.
I think that says a lot about the way we work. There’s no single recipe that works for everything. It’s about understanding each grape and what it can genuinely give you.
What would you like someone drinking Poggio Antico to pick up on, even if they know nothing about all the work that happens before harvest?
There are many ways to make wine. What I hope comes through when someone drinks Poggio Antico is our way: an approach built on consistency and continuity, on our history and the way we work, and on a constant pursuit of quality that remains recognisable over time.
In the glass, that means finding the elegance that comes from the altitude of our vineyards, together with the individual mark that each vintage leaves on them.