12139 Piedmont Vineyard Update

Hello folks, apologies for not posting in so long. Another helter skelter year screaming along!

The vineyards are looking on good condition for the forthcoming growing season and we have seen bud break on all vine varieties over the past few weeks. The 4 year old barbera d'asti vines are particularly vigorous at the moment and are well ahead of the old growth barbera (which is now 49 years old).

We drafted in a couple of volunteers to help with the tying down of the pruned vines this year, our mature vine count is now a little over 15,000, so all tasks have to start earlier and last longer. As part of our routine maintenance we replace something like 150 to 250 vines per year so this Easter weekend has been one of weeding around the baby vines planted last year, and preparing the soil for thrusting new vines into the ground this coming week.

Category
Gardening & Agriculture

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 04/12/2009 - 12:01

Phil Hi, What was the alcohol content of the wine last autumn we had to guess???

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 04/12/2009 - 13:34

Ahh - I thought I had announced that - sorry. 13.8% - who claims the prize?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 04/12/2009 - 13:41

Ah maybe you did!!! I have a sneaky suspicion I know that might be!!! lol Did they receive it and more importantly have they drunk it yet??? Maybe whoever would like to auction their prize for The Italymag Fund??? £5 per entry then raffle it on a draw???

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 04/12/2009 - 14:15

Sally, I don't want to sound like a nag, but you are promoting the Italymag fund and Save the Children (which I have been committed to for 25 years, and yes they are fantastic) It's a bit confusing :veryconfused:

Could you make your mind up, please

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 04/12/2009 - 15:17

Ah I thought actually it was someone else but it seems Jinty was the first to suggest and was the closest. patch2277 a few posts later also suggested the same. They were 0.1 out at 13.7. Over to you Phil to get in touch with them. Two prizes I think of that lovely wine and take it from there ..... I hope you manage to touch base with them!!!.

[url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/gardening-agriculture/10745-new-vineyard-competition-winemaking.html[/url]

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 04:38

[quote=piedmont_phil;116246]Ahh - I thought I had announced that - sorry. 13.8% - who claims the prize?[/quote]

ME!!!!

"Hmm, Barbera Superiore has to be 12.5 and sounds like you've done a fair bit better than that. My choice has gone, so I'll go a bit higher:

13.8"

:laughs:

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 07:33

Sorry and congratulations Sue - Missed that end figure whilst skimming the thread!!! Apologies too to Jinty and patch2277 for raising their hopes.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 10:52

I can't even remember if there was a prize ... but the kudos, the kudos... I do drink an awful lot of Barbera though... :-)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 07:51

Congratulations sueflauto!

I am more than happy to send you a little of our wonderful wine :-) Drop me a PM with details of where I can ship it to.

Best:Dancing_biggrin::Dancing_biggrin::Dancing_biggrin:

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 09:40

Oooh, will do, thanks. At my local enoteca the everyday drink for the group of older guys I drink with is Barbera from Vinchio, and a very good everyday wine it is too. He sell (inter-alia) Bricco del Uccellone, but that's out of my budget though!

You should come on a trip to the VdA as there are some really interesting wines here. I buy from a couple of cellars and also pick up other bottles at local wine festivals/cantine aperte. At the state schools I work at I only get paid at the end of the academic year so I might go on a spree then!

I'm going to be down Alba way in a couple of weeks time but as it'll be with the footie team cellar visits will not be possible!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 10:59

Got your PM thanks.
Vinchio is one of our neighboring villages so I know the cantina and their wines very well. They are one of the best cantina-sociale in Italy. The good news is that our terroir is the same as theirs - so there's a top tip for our provenance.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 15:24

A quick aside - Phil any chance you could bung a quid of JC's money to the Abbruzzo appeal please - sorry for the disturbance on this thread :smile:

[URL]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/general-chat-about-italy/12137-make-me-pay.html[/URL]

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 16:44

threads hijacked, compulsive obsessive behaviors? How could that be? :-)

Good job it's a good cause.....

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 04/17/2009 - 08:32

[quote=piedmont_phil;116926]threads hijacked, compulsive obsessive behaviors? How could that be? :-)

Good job it's a good cause.....[/quote]
I don't understand. She seems like one of the most popular forum members, and her efforts for earthquake aid are surely commendable.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 04/17/2009 - 09:10

no insult was intended, I was joining in the light hearted spirit of the thread being hi-jacked. I certainly do not infer any criticism of any fundraising efforts.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 03:13

How are your vines Phil? Went to Alba to play footie yesterday (debut goal but lost!) and so lucky it was an artificial pitch as the whole countryside is soaked and the Tanaro well up. It's the first time I've been down that way and it's a really lovely countryside, but it looked like potential landslip territory. It was difficult to tell where the risaie fields ended and the normal ones started!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 14:02

Thanks for asking. As you say we are rain central at the moment. We were fortunate that we had a windown of dry for a few day and managed to get our first treatment (copper sulphate) onto the vines on Saturday. Sunday the heavens opened again and it is still pouring. Rivers look set to burst their banks, and there is certainly a lot of mud spilling onto roads. Fingers crossed we don't get a repeat of the winter landslides.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 05:36

Had a Barbera with a bit of bottle age yesterday from Cossetti Clementi & Figli, 13.5% and 2006, and I didn't immediately identify it as Barbera. Neighbours of yours judging by the label? It could certainly support that age although not sure whether it would last a lot longer. Interesting..

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/09/2009 - 05:12

Hi, yes Cossetti are indeed neighbours. They also make my Moscato for me (I don't have the necessary pressure and refrigeration tanks). We also act as importers for their wines into the UK, so all in all it is quite a coincidence that you came across it. Was there more detail on the label? They make several differing qualities of barbera d'asti.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/09/2009 - 06:44

Um, I think something like "Il Vecchio", rings a slight bell. It's at my local bociofila where the guy is interested in wine, but I doubt if they'd get the top of the range.