Harvest has begun (daily updates begin)

I’ll be posting almost every day until harvest ends. So please check back. I’ll be posting photos and videos too.

Monday was a sunny day. By noon the temperature had reached 84° F. We began harvesting the Merlot, an early-ripening grape, always the first to be harvested. We use the Merlot for our entry level IGT, our Toscana Rosso IGT and, Mazzoni, our new Super Tuscan IGT, a blend of Merlot and Sangiovese.
 
Yesterday was also a sunny day. At 7 am the temperature was 59° F and by noon had reached 84° F. We continued harvesting the Merlot. At the same time, we also began pumping over in order to oxygenate the grape juice and allow the indigenous yeasts to begin doing their job, turning sugar into alcohol.

Here’s a video of pumping over at Il Poggione:

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