1998 vine year

1998 was a year with extremely high temperatures. The high temperatures in February and March led to an early start of the growing season for the vines. At Brancaia, the bud break for Sangiovese occurred as early as the end of March. Fortunately, the temperatures in April remained mild, which prevented a great risk of frost during the early sprouting. The entire spring was marked by abundant rainfall. However, from the beginning of June until the grape harvest, the rainfall stopped. The second week of August caused quite a stir, as temperatures reached 38°C! Thanks to the good water retention capacity of the soil and leaf thinning, however, the plants were spared from the feared interruption of the ripening phase. From the beginning of September, temperatures dropped, and there were some rainfall events. Due to these meteorological conditions, the harvest began very early. The harvest of the Merlot at Brancaia started on September 10th and was completed on October 7th at Poppi with the Sangiovese.

The must had a high sugar content, an intense color, and an increased level of polyphenolic substances. Under these conditions, it was possible to produce great wines with pronounced typicity in 1998, despite the atypical course of the summer.