It is no secret that 2017 was a tough vintage in Montalcino. January was wonderfully cold, with night temperatures as low as -6 C (21F) but by March temperatures were 2.5 degrees celsius warmer than "normal" (hitting 22C/71.6F) and we had had half the usual rainfall.

Recently I submitted to a free consultation for our Instagram profile. I was informed that for a winery there is not nearly enough wine in our feed. Apparently what would really bump us up the algorithm would be more pictures of grapes and failing that glasses of wine every second post. Enough pesky shots of buds and leaves and Montalcino panorama.