The colors of Nebbiolo in the north of Italy, autumn 2013
It was a dreary October in northern Italy this year. But I still managed to find the beautiful colors of Nebbiolo out in the vineyards…
Harvest was about two weeks later than it’s been for the past ten years. That was because of a cool and rainy spring and a mild summer. There were no drastic heat spells or hail storms and so things just progressed until picking began. For Nebbiolo in the Langhe (Barolo & Barbaresco), picking commenced around the middle of October. In Valtellina, it started about a week later and as I’m writing this, I believe it still not all picked. The harvest of Nebbiolo in the Langhe finished about one week ago.
I spent the entire month of October in the Barolo and Barbaresco area, except for a one week respite, from October 13 to the 19th, traveling through the Valtellina area, as well as Alto Adige and Friuli. Much to my chagrin, that is when the bulk of the Nebbiolo for Barolo was picked. It was the only sunny week we had so the wine makers got out there and took advantage. I missed it. But I had a sunny week of travels…
Below are a collection of photos—kind of random—from the past month in both Barolo and Valtellina. They are meant to give you a view of how it looked around these important Nebbiolo producing areas just before, during, and after harvest. They are also a preview of some big stories to come here at “enotecaMarcella” in the coming months. The photos are in chronological order.
Enjoy!
(the sun was out for a few hours)
Oct 12.
Looking south from Inferno, Valtellina. Oct 15.
Oct 15.
Oct 19.
Fossati vineyard, La Morra. Oct 20.
Oct 21.
Oct 25.
enotecaMarcella 
Fun to see how quickly autumn arrives; we visited in September and it was still green everywhere. Moscato harvest had just begun. Thanks for sharing!
One of the coolest things about this year was that since harvest was about two weeks late, the leaves on the vines were turning even while the grapes were still hanging on the vines. That was a spectacular sight to see!
The picture of the very red and purple leaves is most likely not Dolcetto. I never see that color on mine, but it would be typical of Barbera, as mine looks similar at this time.
Love the photos, great work!
Ken,
I wonder if that particular vine has some sickness. Here all the Dolcetto turns red first but honestly none of it was really that red. Who knows? 🙂 Pretty anyway!
Most likely fan leaf virus. Would be interesting to see if it difficult to get them ripe. No green leaves=no photosynthesis= no sugar.