The new month opens with really particular climatic conditions, including lower temperatures and continuous rainfall. Follow the activities we have done and will do in May in our vineyards!
May opens with rainfall and climatic instability. The abrupt transition between summer temperatures and harsh winter temperatures has raised some fears regarding the danger of possible frosts. Instead, the constant and moderate amount of rainfall in April is comforting, resulting in a useful deposit of water resources, to avoid incurring stress during the hot summer months to come.
The deep working of the soil, carried out in April with the aid of tractors, were aimed precisely at encouraging the penetration of water into depth, ensuring correct drainage and avoiding harmful stagnation. Thanks to these precautions, the excess water was channeled towards the surrounding woods, and any possibility of landslide was averted.
To our great surprise, we removed the west-facing Nebbiolos two weeks earlier. The growth of these plants is vigorous and healthy, and they already reached the second thread. Our fears regarding the possible damage suffered by the young buds following the strong hailstorm last July were also proven wrong: many small future bunches crowd the shoots, ready to grow, ripen and transform into excellent wine. Among the works planned for the weeks to come, green pruning is certainly included, an operation aimed at integrating and completing the work carried out in winter. In fact, each intervention aims to regulate the development of the foliage, in order to guarantee a perfect balance between leaf surface and number of bunches.
Despite having escaped the risk of frost (remember that Cascina Carlot is located at 480 m asl, an elevated position that avoids normally this disease), our vineyards are obviously not insensitive to the drop in temperatures which, in recent days, has affected the entire area . In fact, most vines find themselves in a stalemate situation, with vegetative growth proceeding very slowly. From now on, Barbera requires particular attention and care: an extremely delicate and fragile vine, it cannot and must not be lost sight of.
All that remains is to wait, observe, be patient and – when conditions allow it – get back to work! Stay tuned for new developments and updates!