31st October 2024
Schrodinger’s Harvest
You know the paradox of Schrodinger’s Cat? Simply put, if you place a cat with something that could kill it inside a sealed box, the cat could be said to be in a “Superposition” of both dead and alive at one and the same time until the box is opened and measurement taken.
So it was for us this summer, our grapes fantastic one day and catastrophic the next: climate chaos in action from May to October kept us on an emotionally draining roller coaster of hope, delusion, euphoria, despair, or wild excitement all following the weather patterns and forecasts of the day.
On the morning of October 2nd we marched into the vineyard with secateurs, boxes and determination to gather in one of the most extra-ordinary harvests of our experience, finishing on the 16th with menacing clouds chasing us for the last boxes.
In the winery the new wines are in 22 still bubbling vats, each carefully labeled and numbered with day of harvest, specific part of specific vineyard, and fermentation history. Like patients in some fancy well-governed hospital. Temperatures taken twice a day, kept clean and neat, records kept. All in the name of great wines.
Today we went to the lab with samples of the first 9 vats we filled, thus those first to finish fermentation. A further Superposition will be put to rest once we have the measurement of their analyses in hand. We hope to hear that the San Polino Harvest 2024 is gloriously alive, that Schrodinger’s cat is jumping out of the box, vigorous and strong.
Further details:
The winter was mild and bud break came 2 weeks later than usual with a rainy , cool spring and early summer.
While July and August were marked by periods of intense heat, some days above 40°C in the vineyards, September saw rain and a constant threat of hail. As the month progressed, contrary to our expectations that the summer heat would have provoked swift ripening, our sugar readings for the grapes showed extremely slow maturation.
Presumably in the heat of July and August the vines had become dormant, as self-defense closing their pores to the excessive sunlight.
In late-September we waited with baited breath fearing that forecasted storms would spoil the grapes. We sprayed the vines with mold eating bacterial concoctions which kept them beautifully healthy and intact.
In spite of predictions of further rain, we kept our nerve and decided to delay harvest until the grapes were at their best. The time was right on the 2nd October when we walked into the fields with secateurs and boxes.
We harvested intermittently vineyard plot by plot according to grape ripeness, characteristic, and rain. We worked meticulously and hard, with many people in the vineyards and around the clock in the winery.
During our tense 10 day wait for harvest grape maturation had galloped and by the time we finally finished on 16th October we had brought in an abundant, beautiful and healthy crop.
Assessing the situation we feel that any success we had was mainly due to painstaking work, all by hand, in the vineyards and meticulous harvesting practices. Every week of the summer months had seen difficult decisions to be made in the vineyards: when to act and when to wait, each choice analyzed with patience and the experience of what our terroir can offer.
So right now we are thrilled that we managed our work in such a unique and complicated year.
By meeting nature halfway, in following its wild course with sensitivity and respect, we found a model for mutual advantage in the vineyards and winery. The San Polino Harvest 2024 has been the year of regenerative viticulture in action.
This summer Nature exploded in frenzied abundance in and around the vineyards, with unlimited profusions of insects, flowers, fauna, reptiles, mushrooms, bats, birds, fruit, heat, rain, beauty.
And in the face of all that is happening in the world, let it continue.
The new wines are still sitting with their skins in the winery. We are preparing for the press and planning the order of which barrels to start on first.