GRECHETTO: THE HISTORY

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NEWS - JANUARY 31, 2007

Last season was perfect from the climatic point of view: abundant winter rains, no late frost and few downy mildew attacks, perfectly controlled with only 6 Bordeaux mixture sprayings. The powdery mildew attacks on the few hectares of Chardonnay were more aggressive, but completely controlled thanks to our experience.

The grapes were almost entirely hand-picked, with the exception of a part of Merlot, despite the increasing difficulty in finding labour.

I partecipate daily in the hand-picking of the grapes and allow myself to underline the great importance of hand-picking in order to obtain a product of excellence.

The usual procedure is this: the grapes are harvested in wide, shallow 3kg buckets, from here they are poured into a 400kg steel container which, as soon as it is full, immediately transfers the grapes into the cellar for the pressing. At the moment of the pouring I personally carry out checks on the clusters and eliminate the unsuitable ones, explaining to the picker, so that in few days even the less expert vintagers are able to select the grapes to pick.

The cluster selection is not always necessary in the vineyards planned for high quality; the reduced manuring of the land reduces the production of shoots and leaves to the essentials, thus increasing the cluster's ventilation and illumination and limiting the onset of fungal diseases.

For the same reasons the low production of grapes favours an advanced and uniform ripening and the clusters are "spread out" (less compact, less contact between the berries and a greater ventilation) with less risk of mould.

If we add to this the fact that we are in a very favourable area for wine production and the use of suitable varieties (better still if they are autochthonous such as Grechetto, Procanico and Montepulciano), I have expounded the principles that are essential in organic growing, which is the consequence of a certain way of operating and cannot be the fruit of a technique established at a later date.

Last week we put together the mass to form the new wines that will be gradually bottled: I assure you that we have to do with the fruits of a fabulous vintage! We have rejoiced at the magnificent aromas and tastes in a collection of clean and elegant wines.

Grechetto is the top of the class once again, and offers a vast range of nuances produced by the different altitude, age and harvest time of the vineyards.

The red grapes, all picked when healthy and well-ripened, have produced a great Magone in which the aromas are already evident, and we will have fine tannins in all the reds.

Thanks to the autumn, with its morning mists, sun and north wind following one after the other, we will have an excellent and abundant "Muffo 2006" (26hl.)!
This is the programme of the bottlings and when the next supplies are available:

* the Orvieto and the first batch of Poggio della Costa 2006 will be bottled at the end of February;

* in March we will bottle the Latour a Civitella 2005 which will be available only at the end of summer (while the 2004 vintage is still available), and the Nenfro 2005 which will be aged for 12 months (there is still a little 2003 and the 2004 vintage will be available in March), and the Magone 2005 which will be aged for 12 months (the 2004 is available).
The Muffo 2005 will be bottled in June instead, and we will put the Civitella Rosso 2006 in the bottle at the end of summer.

THE GREAT NOVELTIES

The most important novelties of this campaign are two, in the first case - as is our habit - we are aimimg at the safeguard of both the product and the consumer, in the second, at amazing you with our special effects!

We have adopted the screw tap in the packaging: after a 3 year trial period we are proud to propose the alternative between the classic cork and the screw tap for Orvieto DOC and Orvieto Tragugnano, Poggio della Costa, Civitella Rosso and Latour a Civitella.
We have already been delivering wines with screw taps to Norway for a year, and this system has been booked by our important clients in England and North America.

Furthermore, for those who still require the product with the cork, we are trying to limit any possible damage by following the advice of a Portuguese firm specialized in preventive quality-control. This practice can however, even in their opinion, only limit - and not eliminate - the well-known problems of cork.

In light of this, we have decided to no longer accept disputes about corkiness in the batches ordered with cork.

The other sensational novelty is the imminent presentation of a Rosé Wine based on Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, to sip by the swimming pool next summer with a dish of pasta quills with olive oil, basil and tomatoes from the garden.

The new wine is still nameless: we are elaborating suitable appellatives for this new creature (some ideas are already maturing), but if you have any suggestions we will be happy - and thankful - to receive them.

To finish, two words about the reviews and awards from the press and various guides.

To introduce this topic I must go back to the end of July when, as is the custom, the tasting of great whites was held in our historical cellar; this year, with the help of Gianni Fabrizio, Gian Domenico Negro, Giuseppe and Domenico, we decided to compare the 1996 and 2000 Latour a Civitella and Poggio della Costa with the most famous European wines of the same year.

I feel I ought to tell you that the event was only possible thanks to the friendship and devotion of our excellent Gianni Fabrizio who, as always, dedicated much time and talent to find the wines on the list that you will see further on.

Our tastings allowed us to discover remarkable perfumes and tastes - at times unimaginable in wine - and to widen our academic and sensorial knowledge thanks to the encyclopedic culture of Gianni, who presented each wine and inserted it in its own environment without neglecting to illustrate the producer's personality to us.

You will have already read about the behaviour of our Grechettos in magazines and guides: we are satisfied and, to be frank, surprised: it is thanks to Grechetto that we can fly high.

Coming back to earth, you can find the complete list of the pages of the various guides that mention us.

I was particularly pleased with Gambero Rosso-Slow Food's comments for the three glasses awarded to Latour a Civitella, and the five bunches to the Latour a Civitella 1996 vintage from Bibenda (with Daniela Scobogna's affectionate and sharp notes), which acknowledge what we are trying to do in our summer tastings. The reviews of International Wine Challenge and Decanter are also encouraging.

Last, but not less important, the ackowledgements as organic grape producers and products.

2006 HARVEST
Friday 17th November 2006

With our enologist Giandomenico Negro's visit today we can say that the 2006 harvest has finished, not only the grape harvest but with this term we include all cellar jobs, starting from the grape picking through to the final drawing off of the new wines.
It is the moment of the first balance of the year's quality, only the first because others will follow from here on, starting in January when the new mass will be made up, and then in April with Vinitaly when the wines will have already been bottled and are ready to be presented to the public, but also in the years to come, to demonstrate the true value of this 2006.
Today we have tasted some very good wines with rich varietal aromas and unquestionable structure, confirming the expectations of a season. We have all agreed that we feel very satisfied with the work done, at least with that 50% that usually depends on man and not on nature.

THE WHITE WINES

Sometimes if a vintage is good you see it in the simpler wines which have a fragility that expresses good potential, this is so for the VERDELLO and the PROCANICO, two pleasant wines, floral and fresh the first, well-balanced the second. As usual the GRECHETTO is the most fascinating. The history of our winery is concentrated in the 5 versions that currently share the cellar, from the choice of the land to the clonal selection and the research for the most suitable vinifications. They are shades of the same colour that will design the new 2006 wines. 3 come from the seven hectares of the Poggio della Costa vineyard: the highest part, planted in '70, is fine and slightly tannic, a typical grechetto characteristic, the lowest part, the youngest and most exposed to the east, is robust and colourful, the central part, the historical Poggio della Costa vineyard, is the most elegant and complex. The other 2 versions come from the Colle vineyard, a land that is richer than the first, with more evident citrus notes accompanied by a hardness on the palate.

THE RED WINES

In the red wines the importance of the year is evident in a similar way. The MERLOT, above all, is a powerful and complex wine both in the more immediate Civitella Rosso version and in the Nenfro aged version. The harvest was delayed a few days to allow the grapes time to acquire fragrances and softness, and the compromise reached seems to indicate a direction for the future. The PINOT NERO keeps itself in line with the other vintages, very similar to 2004, and is already ageing in barriques where it will remain for the whole of next year. The MONTEPULCIANO is, on the other hand, a little further behind due to its harvest time (October 11th and 12th) and to macerations that were longer than in the past years, it is very concentrated and a long period of maturation in wood will be important.

THE MUFFO

The grapes are there, laid out on the straw mats under the shelter, no refrigerators or forced ventilation, just the cold humidity of the morning and the warmth of the autumn sun. The wilting advances regularly at the moment, but judging on the concentration attained, the time of pressing does not seem too far away, we are waiting patiently..….

Sergio Mottura
Piazza Unità d'Italia, 12 - 01020 Civitella d'Agliano (VT)
Tel. +39 0761 914533 - Fax +39 0761 1810100
vini@motturasergio.it