Harvest 2002: The Weather
From
Cosa Bolle in Pentola:
Returning to
Cosa Bolle, we begin with bad news: the 2002 vintage is shaping up to be one of
the worst in living memory, on a par with 1992 or 1984. After a very hot June
conditions settled in July, with more rain than usual, mostly on weekends, and
when Elisabetta and I took the family to the States for August they simply
soured: every time we talked with Elisabetta's parents, they told us it was
raining -- heavy rains, with temperatures such that they were all bundled up,
while the weather service was warning people to avoid the beaches because of
the severity of the thunderstorms. Then I read of severe vineyard damage in
Franciacorta in the international snippet section of the Philadelphia Inquirer,
while the Italian news, we were told, was running miserable footage of vineyard
damage in the Valpolicella and Alba-Asti areas.
A couple of days after our return to Tuscany I attended a vertical at Poggiopiano; the winemaker said half of his grapes were perfect. But of the remaining half, 60% were tainted by marciume acido, an acidic mold that ruins the bunches it strikes. And he said he was lucky; a colleague with 210 hectares under vine had 30 that were harvestable. Everyone was hoping for dry clear weather, and there were a few days. Then it rained all weekend, with flooding throughout the Peninsula.
If truth be told, things are comparatively good in Tuscany, where older well-drained vineyards will emerge not unscathed, but at least with grapes that one can be harvested and made into wine (younger vineyards and those that aren't as well drained will be less fortunate). Danny Schuster, a top New Zealand winemaker (see http://www.danielschusterwines.com/), told me a Piemontese producer said to him, "I don't have any damaged grapes." The man paused. "I have no grapes at all." The only positive aspect of the situation, from a food-lover's perspective, is the abundance of porcini and other mushrooms in the markets.
A quick update on the effects of the summer and fall rains: Antinori is seriously considering not producing Tignanello (a Sangiovese-Cabernet blend, one of the original Supertuscans) this year because of the damage suffered by the Sangiovese (the Cabernet is fine, and they will be making Solaia). Also, Biondi Santi is has decided not to make Brunello at their Il Greppo estate. Other Tuscan wineries will likely follow their lead, and chose not to make their top wines. What does this mean for the consumer? That there won't be 2002 vintages of some of the great Italian wines, that's obvious. What's less obvious is that the decision will have a beneficial effect on the wineries' lesser2002 vintage wines -- Antinori's Chianti Classico D'Annata (the vintage wine) and Biondi Santi's Rosso di Montalcino, in this specific case -- because these wines will get the grapes that would have normally gone into the flagship wines. I'm not saying that the 2002 vintages of these wines will be great wines, but they could very well be quite pleasant, as were some basic 1992 Chianti Classico D'Annata, for example Isole e Olena's and Fontodi's. One can also expect better than one might have hoped for basic wines from winemakers in other areas that were struck by the bad weather but not wiped out -- for example, nice Nebbiolo from those who decide not to make Barolo or Barbaresco, and nice Valpolicella Classico from those who decide not to make Valpolicella Classico Superiore or Amarone.
A presto,
Kyle
Phillips
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