The temperature difference between England and Italy is enormous from the get go this year. 8 degrees at Stansted, 32 in Milan and it was 10 degrees cooler there than it had been the previous week!
If the weather in Italy stays as good as this we will be looking at a very early vintage indeed.
The first order of business was to visit Tenute Sella in Lessona, up in the Alto Piemonte. We are working on a collaborative project this year that sees a separate set of ferments being done The English Winemaker way with 100% Nebbiolo. This is a long term project that won’t see any wines being released until late 2021 at the earliest.
Stage 2 was to confirm the wines at Villa Giada. The easy bit was to get the dry Moscato “Mascot” and the Barbera green lit as they are going down so well from the 2018 vintage we’re more or less doublingproduction in 2019. The trickier bit was having another pitch for the vetoed Field Blend from last year. Andrea being the extraordinary man he is has agreed to give it a go this time, we’ll take a harvest snapshot from across his vineyards, picking just what is ripe on the day and co-ferment them. The Barbera will definitely not be ripe enough but we’ll be looking at Moscato, Sauvignon Blanc, Cortese, Chardonnay, Merlot and Dolcetto. I think we’ll end up with a pretty crunchy chillable red, but we”ll see what comes out!
Barbera 
Sella Cellar 
Omaggio Sella 
Small car hot day 
Mascot and Sausage 
The Hermit Ram interloper 
Nebbiolo