Vintage 2010 Italy

Vineyard worker in Campania

(Photo ©Tom Hyland)

Here are a few thoughts on the 2010 harvest in Italy, which has been completed in some areas and is still continuing in others:


Antonio Capaldo - Feudi di San Gregorio - Campania
"We are quite advanced on the Falanghina and are starting Greco. Fiano and Aglianico still need another week. We were very worried about quality after the weird year in terms of weather but the last few weeks - with wonderful warm weather - have significantly improved the situation. The Falanghina harvest was excellent and so we expect it to be also with Greco and Fiano. There was significant reduction in quantity (-20%) but quality is very good.

Aglianico - delicate grape - is a different matter and we still don't know how it will be. It appears a difficult year with a low quantity...

The next two weeks however will be critical to assess the quality of the aglianico vintage. In any case, for Aglianico it will not be one of the best vintages. The Serpico vineyard however - with old vines - appears to be producing high quality grapes, so we keep our fingers crossed."


Piero Mastroberardino - Mastroberardino - Campania
"A cold and rainy Winter delayed a bit the start of the vegetative cycle, bringing the maturation timing process back to the traditional periods of the area. Spring and Summer were more rainy than usual. Summer was not very hot and the temperature excursions were significant already in August.

So maturation processes slowed down a bit, and this was helpful for the aromas and the freshness of grapes.

Harvest is one week late, compared to last year. We are going back to the traditional harvests of late October and November, with a positive contribution of the terroir distinctive characters on the grapes. More than other years, vineyard management has been strategic, mainly keeping the yield low during August, in order to select the best grapes.

With the white grapes we already can see excellent aromatic expressions and good acidity. About the reds, it’s too early to say: at the moment the process of maturation is regular, but of course we have to wait for the weather evolution of the next weeks. For now we are still in a nice and warm summer, having temperatures around 24-25 Celsius degrees during the day."


Stefania Rocche - Castelvecchio - Tuscany
"This year harvest was late and not so easy - we started around 22th September with the merlot grapes - we did a lot of selection in every vineyards so the crop is little less than normal but the wines are in fermentation right now and seem to have an interesting evolution."


Andrea Felluga - Livio Felluga - Friuli
"A cool vintage and one in which the quality of the wine has repaid all the efforts in the vineyard.

Vini dai profumi molto intensi. Carattere aromatico elegante."