Spring 2006

In your future, Traminer Aromatico

The conditions that prevailed during the period of the harvest were protracted throughout nearly all of the autumn. Widespread rainfall, cold and also snow were the key factors in the season. We had a December in which the thermometer steadily fell and snow abundantly coated fields in the Val di Chiana, while in January minimum temperatures constantly remained below zero (Celsius). A classic winter, in short, that permitted us, although with a slight delay, to carry out the work that the season requires.

In the cellar

The results of the vintage, one of the most difficult in memory, were not disappointing. The wines, produce with focused vinification, are now revealing their characteristics. They may not have all the depth we might have wanted but they do possess truly satisfying vinous and varietal aromas that are steadily evolving in a positive way. They are not wines that can be aged at length but they will be appreciated for their softness and for their flowery notes. However, we have succeeded in obtaining a limited quantity of Sangiovese with sensory and analytical qualities of a substantial level. That wine is the fruit of a selection of grapes harvested perhaps at the ideal moment of ripeness. Some say this will be the only wine of this vintage that can undergo prolonged aging.

Work in the vineyards

Scheduling work in the winter to arrive at the revival of vegetation with all the vines perfectly cultivated is extremely difficult. Beginning pruning too soon may entail serious consequences if frosts strike in the spring. The problems will become even greater if budding begins with a delay. When the vines to be pruned are innumerable, the problem becomes virtually insuperable. The solution, purely theoretical, is to have available in large numbers personnel who can carry out this operation as late in the season as possible and in the shortest time possible, something that is now impractical. Fortunately technology is giving us a hand and, in fact, a machine, the “pre-pruner,” that should resolve the problem at least in part is now being tested. This apparatus, consisting of an assortment of circular blades, coarsely trims the vines, which makes the successive finishing labor of the pruning crew easier. It practically reduces the time required for the operation by half. The results, once the initial difficulty was overcome, have been praiseworthy. New vineyard Work on preparing new plantings will be limited this year to two hectares (9.9 acres) of vineyard of an experimental character. We shall plant three clones of Traminer Aromatico with the aim of obtaining fine dessert wines. We have chosen this variety because of the characteristics of its grapes: aromatic, thick skins, a fine pink color that can confer on the wine warm and attractive tonalities and, above all, because it is particularly suited to harvesting when overripe (late harvest, Eiswein, troeckenbeerenauslese, vendage tardive). We have already prepared the terrain for the planting, which will be carried out with an average density of slightly more than 4,000 vines per acre (1,619 an acre).

Events

Again this year, the Carpineto estate has been invited to participate next May 20 in London in the Great Italian Fine Wine Encounter, sponsored by the authoritative British magazine Decanter. This is a major tasting in which 100 of the most authoritative Italian producers are invited to attend and show 600 of the best wines in Italy’s vinicultural panorama. Being invited to this event, the biggest tasting of Italian wines in Britain, surely represents an outstanding recognition for estates like Carpineto, which has always worked with an eye to quality.