Finally, after a cool wet summer our white grapes were harvested this week in the 2 fruit days we had to work with in the biodynamic calendar. Now they’ve been pressed and the juice transferred to steel fermentation tanks. Here’s a look at the process…..
Our aromatic traminer on the vine
Michael
To be sure we only get perfect grapes we do our selection in the vineyard
Simona — who runs our office and looks after countless administration details also manages to do some work in our vineyards too
Raffaella works with me in the kitchen, looks after our guests and also finds time to work in the gardens and vineyards.
Veruska also works in the kitchen, our gardens and the vineyards.
Vineyard selection requires a highly skilled team. We don’t call in extra help for the harvest, but rely solely on our own staff who have worked all year taking care of each plant so that it can produce the best quality grapes possible. They know each vine intimately. Today, after a year of hard work everyone is happy with the results. And so they should be, look at those gorgeous grapes!
Thank you (l-r) Kornel, Raffaella, Sidi, Veruska, Cristiano, Simona, Samuele, Simone! photo courtesy: Raffaella Borghi
Finished with the white harvest. The grapes are on their way to the cantina and its time to go home and rest up for the red! photo courtesy Raffaella Borghi
Look at these perfect clusters of viogner grapes after vineyard selection as they arrive at the cantina
Cristiano unloading at the cantina
Kornel, who has been at Petraia longer than anyone receives grapes at the cantina
We don’t use commercial yeast but make our own natural yeast about a week before we started the harvest. Here it is fermenting away in the vat.
Manuel and Michael having a taste of the yeast. It was delicious!
Cristiano who manages our team, gets a first taste of Petraia white 2014!
destemming
destemmed grapes
- Barbara, the enologist at the cantina runs the press
pumping the juice into the vat
First look at our 2014 white gold.