June is a crucial month for the activities in the vineyard: every operation requires the utmost care, and nothing can be left to chance. Careful assessments must be made, and specific procedures undertaken. Here are the jobs that Agricola Marrone will carry out among its rows during the month!
We said goodbye to May, a month that this year gave us lower temperatures than the average for the period, and we are preparing to welcome June, a crucial month for every winemaker. The copious rainfall of the past few months guarantees sufficient water resources to arrive peacefully at the next harvest, avoiding any worries regarding the possibility of incurring in water stress, concerns that had instead characterised and accompanied the entire 2023 summer period.
The rise in temperatures we have witnessed in recent days has inevitably led to a vigorous vegetative push, resulting in the growth – almost visible to the naked eye – of the shoots of the rows: a situation which therefore required immediate mobilization and intervention on our part. In this phase of the plant’s development, in which it prepares to collect and channel its resources in order to translate them into fruit, each operation becomes delicate and important, and must be carried out with great care and attention.
In order to avoid too much humidity – and a plausible fungal proliferation related to it – it is necessary to open the leaf wall, especially at the height of the young bunches. At the same time, it is necessary to proceed with the arrangement of the shoots in the wires, so that the development and growth of the young bunches can occur in a linear and uniform manner, in order to guarantee homogeneous and optimal maturation. It will also be necessary to monitor the growth of the shoots, and proceed with the trimming when they are still tender: in fact, if we waited for them to develop excessively, to the point of presenting a woody appearance, each cut inflicted would translate into a wound for the plant, easily subject to penetration of viruses and pathogen attacks.
June is a month of great transformations, and the possibility of observing changes and variations in the structure and growth of each plant almost with the naked eye leads us to reflect and get excited, as always happens, even after many years of activity. In the most vigorous and daring growth of the vines planted in the shade of the forest that surrounds us, we see every year a struggle and continuous regeneration of the single plant to find its way, and grab the light resources necessary for its sustenance and further development. A contemplation and admiration that we inevitably trace back to the concept of the “happyplant”, a philosophy that we espoused many years ago, and that we continue to pursue and support with admiration and conviction.
On the advice of Daniele Gilberti, our trusted agronomist for about ten years, as well as the one who first introduced us to this doctrine, we reserve the right to save efforts, energy and further interventions for the month of July. Although this somewhat uncertain climate contributed to the initial thinning of the leaves – inevitably reflected in the initial quantities – it did not have critical repercussions on the number of potential bunches. A factor that requires us to remain vigilant and monitor the evolution and quantity of fruit load on individual plants in future months, in order to avoid possible complications. In the case of excessive humidity and a high load of bunches, the individual berries could, for example, suffer from critical issues linked to an epicarp that is too thin and fragile, subject to easy tearing or evident difficulties in the ripening process. A problem that would find the only solution in thinning out the number of bunches: by removing the load of fruit present, the plant would in fact be able to redistribute nourishment and resources towards the remaining shoots, allowing for correct, vigorous and healthy development, and an intrinsic increase in their quality. We therefore reserve the right to monitor the situation in the weeks to come, ready to intervene if circumstances require it.
We welcome June with happiness and serenity: the leaves are very green, the plants healthy, the surrounding vegetation vigorous. We are ready to welcome all the challenges and surprises that this month will bring along!