Harvest, harvest, harvest! - Pinot Noir Précoce

We began to harvest in early October, starting with the Pinot Noir Precocè on
the 2nd. Hand-harvesting usually takes a while but was exacerbated this
year. Due to poor flowering during Spring (brought about by damp conditions
and on/off rain) it made the bunches generally smaller, leading to a reduced
crop size despite having an approximate equivalent number of bunches.
Pressure from disease intensified towards the end of the growing season and
areas began to see botrytis. We picked around the botrytis which resulted in
a clean, if small, crop. The Early Pinot sugars this year were exceptional,
matching with the results we had in 2021, which produced an exceptional still
red wine. Here’s hoping for a repeat of that lovely vintage!