Nature versus COVID-19 : no contest

Nature is reassuringly oblivious to Covid-19. These months of lockdown have had no impact on the necessary maintenance and care of our vineyards. If anything, the fact of having three separate vineyards in different subzones of Montalcino has permitted our team to work in splendid isolation and absolute safety. The sight of the emerald green new foliage and slowly unfurling embryonic bunches gives me great solace. As the poet Rilke writes, “It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.” The phases of the vineyard have their own rhythm and there is comfort in that. We are lucky to be sharing a wonderful vintage with the world – 2015 - and to have an equally great year – 2016 - in the wings, both wines with great capacity for cellar evolution. In Montalcino we are used to thinking in five year intervals and to exercising patience. In 2025, by the time the 2020 vintage of Brunello hits the shelves, this strangest of times will be relegated to the status of a memory