Harvest 2020: from Tuscany to Sicily it will be an especially memorable vintage

The 2020 harvest took place during the COVID-19 pandemic but followed an unusually successful vegetative cycle. Alessandro Cellai considered the season comparable in promise to 1985, 1990, 2001 and 2016. Conditions in spring and early summer allowed the phenological phases to progress in a balanced sequence, supporting near-ideal phenolic maturity in both Tuscany and Sicily. Early white and red varieties were being harvested across the four estates. At Gurra di Mare and the other properties, the first fermentations showed both structure and balance, while colour intensity was already apparent from pressing. Yields were expected to remain in line with 2019. Cellai linked quality to carefully measured crop load per vine, calibrated to obtain the desired concentration in each bunch.