This morning I awoke to the unmistakeable Psssh-clink of the bottling machine, echoing across the vineyard from the cellar to our house. The variety of noises that a bottling line emits is an astounding collection of clinks and clanks, juddering rattles and hisses. Although the insertion of the cork is automated, the bottles need to be lifted manually one by one onto the line and removed and placed in their cages on the other end. Today we are bottling 9.304 0,75 bottles of 2009 Brunello and just 12 Magnums that were ordered by a special private client. This is the first Brunello vintage to be bottled in our new cellar. It will be a long and tiring day for the team of three loading bottles on and off the line but we will complete the bottling before evening.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB1fJeAyBsA&feature=share&list=UUuTI_SF8FMEdmeC2FXtdtBg

After the cork has been inserted (a natural closure is obligatory for Brunello) the bottles are placed “nude” - no capsule and label-less -  in metal cages to recover from the shock of being bottled (see here for more detail about this temporary condition). One of the DOCG regulations is that Brunello must age for four months in the bottle before sale. In any case the earliest release date for 2009 Brunello is January 2014 when the precious DOCG neckstrips can be purchased and applied and the total obligatory aging time of this wine has been observed.

As they say in my home-town, cannae wait!