We are gearing up to dropping some fruit next week with our first green harvest of the year. The vineyards have all been “zappate” - hand-hoed - so that the soil can absorb whatever water comes their way. Bear in mind that from January to 14th May we had only half the normal rainfall (10 cm instead of a more usual 20 cm) and then on 15th May 5 cm fell in the space of hours . Naturally this was exactly when I had organised an outdoor party for my childrens’ christening. Since that day we we have had just one other road-ruining downpour.Right now we have been doing some canopy management; training the vines to grow straight upwards. We do this in order to provide maximum light and air flow for the grapes during the all-important growing season till October when we pick. We tuck the vines between the foliage wires and clip the parallel wires together for tension. For the last five or so years we have used an ecological and biodegradable clip made from compressed chestnut wood fibres.As their website elegantly puts it “It as a very nice looking.” Later in the season they break and quickly biodegrade, fertilising the soil where they fall.As they say, the devil is in the details.http://www.ciopsrl.it/ecorella/index-en.html