Harvest at Podere Conca

Harvest at Podere Conca: a ritual carried out with precision and enthusiasm all by women

We are ready: at Podere Conca the 2019 harvest.

The sun hasn't risen yet, but the light behind the hills of Bolgheri is already getting brighter. Paola, the person in charge of the vineyard work at Podere Conca, bounces on the potholes in the dirt road that leads to the vineyards. A trailer loaded with red crates is attached to the tractor. Empty... but not for long, it's the first day of the harvest .

Paola gets off her tractor, checks that everything is in order and goes between the rows to distribute the boxes. Soon the others will arrive, scissors in hand, ready to collect the now ripe bunches. grape harvest at Podere Conca it is made by hand.

This year Paola is satisfied: the hard work in the vineyards throughout the season is coming to an end and the dark purple grapes, with small, round berries, are hanging from the vines among the green leaves.

The first grape variety harvested is the Ciliegiolo . Its bunches are a little larger than the other varieties, but the plants, still young, have not produced many, so it was not necessary to thin them out. Sometimes it is necessary, reluctantly, to remove some bunches, when they are still green, in summer, to "calm down" a plant that is a little too exuberant in production. It is called grape harvest green, precisely because the bunches are still unripe. In this way we ensure that each bunch has a balanced ripening, a right balance between acidity and sugars.

This year it was not needed and we can harvest all our Ciliegiolo. The pre - harvest analyses give us hope: sugars and acidity are well proportioned. The rest will be done in the cellar.

Paola is curious: she has always taken care of the vineyards and olive trees, but this year, with our new cellar that is taking shape, she will also be able to see and take part in what happens after the grape harvest real, when the bunches in the crates will begin a new phase of their life.

Once the trailer is loaded, she can set off. She bounces again over the potholes and takes the provincial road. When she gets to the cellar, the other girls are waiting for her… well, actually they are the same ones who were in the vineyards before, but they were quicker to get to the cellar with the car.

The crates are unloaded into the destemmer and the grapes fall onto the sorting belt, a conveyor belt that transports them to the rollers of the crusher. During this process the grapes are sifted and selected by hand. If any are green they are discarded, if any leaves or stalks have passed through, these are removed. There is a lot of attention in all this, but the cheerful and carefree atmosphere of the grape harvest It stays in the air.

The grapes fall into the rollers that gently press them, just enough to open them slightly, without crushing them. At first glance the grapes appear to be the same as before. Then a pump and pipes transport them to a vat where fermentation will begin and where they will remain for about a month.

At this point all that remains is to clean and tidy everything up, like after a nice dinner with friends, when plates and dishes are all over the kitchen. But this time the table needs to be re-set because tomorrow we leave again and another day of grape harvest It's almost here.