SICILIAN / A.MU’NIN.NI / 1. (LITERALLY) LET'S GO 2. AN EXPRESSION OF ENCOURAGEMENT,DISBELIEF, INSISTENCE, ETC.: COME ON, GO ON, LET'S GO
SICILIAN / A.MU’NIN.NI / 1. (LITERALLY) LET'S GO 2. AN EXPRESSION OF ENCOURAGEMENT,DISBELIEF, INSISTENCE, ETC.: COME ON, GO ON, LET'S GO
bringing the best
in italian wine,
goods and culture
to the table.
2025
harvest
report
GROWING SEASON IS NEVER FREE OF TROUBLE AND ITALY HAS HAD SOME PRETTY CHALLENGING YEARS OF LATE AS FAR AS CLIMATE AND DISEASE ARE CONCERNED, BUT THE YEAR 2025 MAY SURPRISE US WITH A HISTORIC VINTAGE!
Let’s explore it: From North to South…ish.
In Breganze (Veneto), our friends at Rarefratte, Cristian and Arianna, just started harvesting last Sunday. The growing season was smooth up to July 20th, then hail came…followed by a lot of rain. Luckily they didn’t lose too much crop, but the 2025 will probably produce wines that will be low in alcohol and high in acidity…can’t be too mad at that…
Over in Nanto, still in Veneto, Fora is definitely feeling climate change. For the first time ever they started harvest as early as August 20th. Still, the growing season was good: a warm spring, and a very warm June with little rain…maybe too little for the Garganega, which felt the stress in a few plants, while the Tai Rosso didn’t seem to mind. Then, finally, it rained for a whole day (40 mm) on August 2nd “a beautiful slow rain, it felt like fall,” says Giovanni, and then the scorching sun again, giving Fora fully mature and heavy clusters. “The grapes are beautiful,” Giovanni concluded, “with beautiful color and beautiful skin.”
Moving West to Modena, there too, harvest started 15 days earlier than usual. In spite of this, Claudio Plessi is hopeful for what he believes is a promising new vintage. While we wait for this vintage to follow its course, we are about to welcome a shipment of Claudio’s wines to New York this very week. His Lambruscos and other sparklings stole everyone’s heart the first time around (and so did his still reds), and an even larger line-up will be sure to blow you away with its sparkle. More soon…
On to Piemonte. It was a year of experimentation in La Morra at Borgogno Rivata. For the first time, their Arneis, which still hasn’t debuted on the American market, was harvested in two phases: one earlier for higher acidity, and another about 10 days later for fuller ripeness. Winemaker Giovanni Mingolla will be playing with oxidation and aging under flor for this one, but it will take a while before we will be able to bring you the end result of this experiment. On the next shipment from the guys at Borgogno Rivata, however, you can expect a new favorite, Lumas, the latest addition to the Borgogno Rivata line-up: 80% Pelaverga and 20% Dolcetto. Aged in cement only, it is extremely vibrant and crunchy. A perfect option for a fresh red by the glass.
On the other side of La Morra, the growing season held a few challenges, with a hard-to-manage alternation of intense heat and strong rains. Towards the end of the growing season, however, Renato Molino’s vineyards were blessed by some very cold nights, ideal for the ripening of Nebbiolo and promising for the future of their Barolos. While their first shipment to the US, carrying the 2019 vintage will land in the fall, “our fingers are crossed,” says Chiara (Renato’s daughter), for a 2025 that promises low quantities and very high quality.
From Barolo to Barbaresco, Marco Viglino of La Vedetta had a sleepless night last week when a terrible storm swept over their hill, “but fortunately no hail, thank God!,” he told us. Harvest is yet to start, but 2025, says Marco, is definitely promising. A lot of water was left in the soil from last year and thanks to a sunny spring and summer, the grapes were able to ripen well, without any illnesses: “they look just great!” His Barbaresco will come to New York in the fall, and so will his Freisa (yes, exciting!) and his Barbera and…we just can’t wait!
Over in Roero, Lorenzo Negro was happy to be able to work with a few more collaborators in the vineyards this growing season, which allowed him to come to the point of harvest with “some truly stunning plants.” Lorenzo’s wines will land in New York for the first time in the next couple of days, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome to the city the soul of Roero. To some, Roero is still a mystery, but the true connoisseurs of the bel paese are not sleeping on this microregion were Nebbiolo and Arneis DOCGs produce outstanding wines year after year. Lorenzo, who has trained generations of young Roero winemakers, tells us that the 2025 is meeting all the parameters to become one of the "great vintages of Roero.”
In Lazio, just outside of Roma, Riccardo Magno of La Torretta is similarly excited. He tells us that he hasn’t seen grapes as good looking as this year’s in many many years, but, he says….”let’s not jinx it!” The growing season this year did not bring as many challenges as the last, allowing Riccardo, who farms biodinamycally, to reduce treatments to a minimum (only 800gr of copper per hectare). The grapes have been harvested, and Riccardo says, “they are gorgeous, ready to ferment.”
All the way down to Sicily, now, where 2025, Fabio Signorelli tell us, will be a complex year to decipher. Different microregions, and even different vineyards within the same areas, had to face different challenges throughout the growing season. The last couple of years vineyards across the Mediterranean witnessed vicious attacks of pathogenic funghi. This year, the peronosopora first attacked as early as March, but Fabio, who had a hunch, was able to brace his vineyards for impact and save them from a tragic destiny. Then, the heat came, and with it, easier conditions. The grapes now look “crunchy and healthy.” Harvest will start tomorrow for his rosato, while for the reds he will wait until October.
These are just some of the news from the many corners of Italy where our producers are working with, sometimes against, the challenging condition of a fast-changing environment to deliver excellence for yet another year. It is hard to capture the excitement in their voices and their words when they tell us about the year’s adventures…most times, from our New York offices, we just have to wait until we can uncork those time capsules that we call a bottle of wine and sample what it meant to toil, hope, experiment, despair, rejoice, and hardly ever rest for a whole growing season, all the way to harvest.
Here’s to another vintage…in bocca al lupo!
SPECIAL SERVICES
We offer premium branding and importation services for a range of select premium food and beverage categories.
