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. The vintage set off at a canter, catching everyone rather by surprise. Budbreak in Castelnuovo was on 16th March, it took place ten days later at Le Due Porte. April continued to be warm until the end of the month when there was a late freeze, utterly devastating for some areas of Tuscany.

From 1st January to 31st May we had just 126 ml of rainfall (for comparison in 2015 we received 292 mm, see full report here). The summer was punishingly hot and dry, the only positive being that these conditions also mean zero issues or intervention for mildew. Deciduous trees lost their leaves months ahead of time; oaks were orange-tipped, cereal crops harvested early and the land was parched. We made huge efforts with canopy management. In our lowest vineyard rather than topping the vines we bent the fronds over to form a natural parasol so as to reduce water stress by not stimulating growth. Nevertheless, some of our grapes were horribly shrivelled on the side receiving most sun yet others in the same vineyard unscathed. La Vecchia, our oldest vineyard, fared well thanks to developed root systems.

It was the hottest June in 15 years although in spite of temperatures hitting 36 C (96,8 F) nights were still relatively cool 18 C (64,4 F). By July the heatwave was given the name Lucifero by the press which gives a clear idea of its character. At Il Palazzone we had terrible wild boar incursions since the beasts were crazed by the drought. In fact after the difficulties of harvest 2017 we fenced off the entire property at Le Due Porte. On 25th July there was a hailstorm which struck Le Due Porte but fortunately the damage was limited. There was a storm on 13th August, a phenomenon which sometimes foreshadows the end of summer, but in 2017 day-time temperatures stayed above 30°C. Night-time temps were half that, so decent conditions for ripening. Finally in September we had some rain, good drying tramontane winds and an ever increasing day night temperature swing; basically the perfect combination of condition to mitigate the effects of the heat, plump up the raisiny grapes, stabilise phenolics and find balance. We picked at Castelnuovo on 13th and 16th September and at Le Due Porte on the 20th. This was the first time in our history that we ever brought in Le Due Porte before October (check out the gorgeous grapes here) and it was our earliest ever start-date for picking. As always our vibrating sort table proved to be invaluable, along with the nimble fingers and watchful eyes of four loyal members of #teamilpalazzone.

In 2017 we elected not to make our single vineyard Le Due Porte, nor did we produce a Riserva choosing to focus only on our vintage production. We made a third less of our normal production, just 9.521 bottles, in this challenging vintage.