Here in Le Langhe autumn has arrived! The harvest is over and now we are continuing to follow the winemaking in the cellar.

As always, this is a very satisfying moment for a wine producer: a time to relax a little, spend more time around the dining table enjoying the fabulous, typical foods of the season, and just looking out of the window to admire autumn’s progress, with its fantastic colours that turn our region into a magical place especially combined with the typical nebbia or mist that characterises this period of the year.

The 2016 vintage has proven to be of excellent quality for the wines of lower Piedmont. After a winter that was never too cold with snows that arrived only towards the end of February, we had a spring that was moderately rainy, followed by a hot summer with temperatures that were never too high and with breeze that kept the vineyards well ventilated. In fact, it was this airy, breezy climate that characterises the 2016 vintage, giving the new wines freshness and elegance, rich in colour and scent.

There were two important phases for this vintage: the decision of when to thin out the vines and the moment for the harvest of the grapes. We decided to carry out the thinning of the vines gradually this year, passing through the vineyards selectively and repeatedly. We began with a first passage in mid-August, and continued to carry out this important work even up until two weeks before harvest.

The decision of when to harvest was also fundamental to our labours. We didn’t want to leave the harvest too late because this year the acidity levels in the grapes were not overly high: to leave the harvest until later could have resulted in wines that would be lacking in freshness. We began the harvest of Dolcetto on 20 September; Barbera on 6 October; Nebbiolo for Barolo from the vineyards of Castiglione Falletto on 11 October; and Nebbiolo for Langhe Nebbiolo on 20 October.

Very well, it’s been another good vintage! I am satisfied with all our efforts in 2016, and now I am able to allow myself to rest, to stop for a moment, and simply look out of the windows of my house, admiring the beauty of Autumn over the hills of Perno.