Our 2020 harvest lasted a total of fifty days: from Thursday, 20 August to Friday, 9 October. As a matter of fact, we spent thirty days in the vineyard and in the remaining twenty days we recharged our batteries, or we were unable to work due to rain. A month and a half of hard work at the end of a rather peculiar year due to the global pandemic that spared nobody. However, we are optimistic, drawing inspiration from the strength of vines, which can withstand all kinds of adverse weather and growing conditions because their very deep roots allow them to cling to the soil even in extremely strong winds. They may bend, but they never snap as they penetrate deep down into the rocks searching for water, even in the driest periods, finding, storing and transforming it into precious nutrients. Vineyards have traditionally been our driving force and very essence of life.

Luckily, the weather did not affect the quality of the harvested grapes because we were blessed with the right amount of sunshine, followed by intermittent rainfall and remarkable diurnal temperature shifts after mid-September that boosted the ripening curve and development of varietal aromas of the last varieties to be harvested. Grape-growers are obviously grateful for this. Especially in recent times, it is not unusual to experience violent storms when the weather changes abruptly, as occurred in the neighbouring areas. We were relieved that this did not happen on our wine estates

In addition to the good weather, our interventions in the months before the harvest, geared above all on maintaining the best vine performance, enabled us to obtain an excellent quality vintage.

Our grapes reached optimal maturity ten days after the average time of the last decade, but they were extremely healthy. In fact, the samples analyzed were immediately suitable for producing the cuvées for the Prosecco and Chardonnay sparkling wines, whose grapes were harvested at the beginning of August, together with Pinot Grigio. Harvesting at Tenuta Cicogna took place in mid-September, starting with the native grape variety Tai Rosso, followed by Syrah and Merlot. Then, between the end of September and the first few days of October, we harvested Cabernet Sauvignon and finally Durella and Garganega, our late-ripening white grape, the undisputed queen of the Doc Gambellara appellation

We were therefore delighted with our harvest because the vineyards did not experience severe problems during the year and produced lovely bunches of high-quality grapes. We will now focus on the next wine production stages and the business challenges to be faced. At present, all the wines have been fermented and the red wines have been racked. Unfortunately, this year we will not be able to celebrate the end of the harvest with the typical “zanzega” (which in the Veneto dialect means an end of harvest meal) due to the anti-coronavirus restrictions that are in place. However, we wish to toast to you, but also to us, from our winery. We will think of you and we are sure that sooner or later we will shake hands again!

Many thanks to all of you, dear friends and customers.
Your winemaker

Giancarlo Cavazza

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