{"id":1598,"date":"2013-11-29T17:21:36","date_gmt":"2013-11-29T15:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.belpiemonte.com\/en\/?p=1598"},"modified":"2013-11-29T17:21:36","modified_gmt":"2013-11-29T15:21:36","slug":"nebbiolo-harvest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.belpiemonte.com\/en\/nebbiolo-harvest\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebbiolo harvest"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 9 a.m, Friday, the end of October. Humid air envelops Piedmont<\/strong> hills and the castle of Serralunga d\u2019Alba<\/strong> can be barely seen behind a heavy of water curtain. The sun is trying to break through the low clouds and although a beautiful and warm day is forecasted, I bottom up my jacket. I\u2019m in the Rivetto vineyard<\/strong> <\/a>and with a camera in my hands I\u2019m waiting for a start of Nebbiolo<\/strong> harvest. The last big grape picking this year. Year not easy for wine producers with rainy spring, moderate hot summer and capricious autumn: sunny and warm September, but irregular weather in October.<\/p>\n

\"Nebbiolo<\/a>
a cluster of Nebbiolo grapes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Serralunga<\/a>
Serralunga d’Alba and autumnal Langhe hills<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Autumn<\/a>
colours and shapes of grape wine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I greet with a group of grape pickers and we have a small talk. They live in the Langhe and they work for vineyards in the neighborhood, helping in harvest time. I\u2019m observing their work in pairs with interest while they are cutting down bunches and putting them gently down in cases. Containers fills up in a flash because devoid of leaves grapevines expose fruits making work easier . Once a case is full, they leave it under a plant and move to fill another one.<\/p>\n

\"Nebbiolo<\/a>
Nebbiolo harvest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nebbiolo<\/a>
working in pairs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nebbiolo<\/a>
cutting down grape bunches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nebbiolo<\/a>
tools of work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019m moving between grapevine rows and I try to immortalize extraordinary images: blue clusters against a background of thin wires stretched between balding plants that looks like a stave with a music written in notes; crystals of dew glittering on a white thick film protecting berries from morning cold; colorful carpets of leaves interweaving with old trunks.<\/p>\n

\"Nebbiolo<\/a>
Nebbiolo grapes looking like notes on a stave<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nebbiolo<\/a>
Nebbiolo grapes looking like music notes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nebbiolo<\/a>
a row of balding grape bushes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nebbiolo<\/a>
old trunks of Nebbiolo bushes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The silence. Dimmed colors, sleepy nature – all this makes a nice and relaxing atmosphere. Only a small group of people is working dutifully and a curious dog is watching a business.<\/p>\n

\"Nebbiolo<\/a>
crystals of dew and a sleepy fly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nebbiolo<\/a>
a dog watching a business…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After half an hour I feel my feet wet. A clay soil keeps water perfectly and after few days of rain transforms into a plasticine mud. Well, this time a made a mistake wearing a material shoes. But fortunately although the grass is covered by dew, somehow it is stabile and it enables getting about in the vineyard and a little tractor, that has just brought a new portion of cases, didn\u2019t get stuck.<\/p>\n

\"Serralunga<\/a>
fog enveloping the Langhe hills<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Nebbiolo<\/a>
a delivery of extra cases<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The harvest in the Langhe is exclusively manual. It\u2019s not a matter of tradition but a landform. Sharp slopes exclude machine work. A greasy clay I mentioned before, which is a calcareous marl, provides a perfect food for a demanding variety that offers full bodies, tannic wines – Barolo<\/strong>, Barbaresco<\/strong> and Langhe Nebbiolo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Langhe area is rich of endemic wine grape varieties, especially red one. But there is also an interesting white grape variety \u2013 Nascetta<\/strong> that gives a aromatic dry wine Langhe Nascetta DOC<\/strong>. More information you can find in my article “La vendemmia in the Rivetto vineyard<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 9 a.m, Friday, the end of October. Humid air envelops Piedmont hills and the castle of Serralunga d\u2019Alba can be barely seen behind a heavy of water curtain. The sun is trying to break through the low clouds and although a beautiful and warm day is forecasted, I bottom up my jacket. I\u2019m in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[23,80],"class_list":["post-1598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rivetto","tag-grape-harvest","tag-rivetto"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t