We have a deep knowledge of our vineyards, feeling every contour of the land as we work our way amongst the vines each day. That said, we never accept resting on our laurels and for that reason in order to kick-start the growing season we invited Marco Tessari, guru pruner, to Montecalvi for a week to give a lesson to the whole team on the fundamentals of pruning.
Marco was formerly at Simonit e Sirch where he learnt his art of utilising the very best pruning traditions. Marco’s technique is to minimise the pruning wounds, thereby conserving the health of the vines and the sustainability of the vineyard. He believes in pruning in a way that encourages healthy vine development and improves the structure and natural flow of water and nutrients up and down the vine. This is important for all our vines – from the new plantings that went in during 2020 through to the old vines planted in 1932, and everything in between. (We cannot recommend Marco highly enough, by the way, for all those who are in need of some pruning advice!)
We finished pruning at Montecalvi on 28th February this year. The vines have now wept and budbreak is underway – the starting pistol for our 2021 vintage. This is a moment full of the most anticipation – there is literally everything to play for and each of our actions and decisions taken over the coming months will influence the results in September/ October.
