Diary of a Harvest 2020 – Part Two

On 23 September, Nannelli argued that wine is born in the vineyard: without high-quality grapes, the cellar cannot create a high-quality wine. Harvest represented the collection of a year’s work, after which the cellar’s role was to reveal the fruit’s best qualities.

On 6 October, he considered the productive value of imperfection. He expected 2020 to be a good vintage, although September prevented it from being better. For him, a perfect harvest cannot exist when the objective is continual improvement. Every season has a special variation to be discovered, and even a small change can create a different wine. Wine emerges from the union of nature, which provides grapes, and people, who interpret vineyards and transform their fruit.

On 14 October, after the cellar work of harvest had closed, he recalled the sun, the labour of the pickers and the effort required to bring every bunch home in the best possible condition. While mechanical harvesting and technology were becoming more common, he maintained that quality still depended on attention and human sensitivity. The technical team’s work extended across the year, from fertilization and pruning to treatments and continuous care of the vineyards.