Caluso, harvest 2021. Grapes pardoned by bad weather, the quality will be excellent

CALUSO. We return to harvest after the Erbaluce grape festival and then from Monday 20 September in the pergola vineyards of Erbaluce and Canavese rosso, lying on the hills of Calusiese. «Not an exceptional fact, but normalcy: – explains Paolo Vercelli, oenologist of the Erbaluce di Caluso producer cooperative – just as it happened in past years. From the samples we made last Wednesday, the grapes show a good sugar content, but with a still high acidity. This is due to the drought that has also been felt in our territory, especially in the vineyards most exposed to the sun. Grapes need to become more balanced. So it is better to wait another ten days. And if we get some rain even better. The yield will also be less abundant than last year ». In summary: bad weather (hail) has spared the Calusian area and the quality will be excellent. The delivery calendar in the cellar will be disseminated to the members at the end of next week. However, the climatic variations characterized by an average increase in temperatures are very good for Erbaluce di Caluso. For the native vine of the hills around the city, from which the three versions of Erbaluce still, sparkling wine and the famous Passito derive, an excellent harvest is announced, like that of last year which had recorded another encouraging data: the doubling of the areas vines over the last ten years: now there are about 150 hectares planted with the traditional Erbaluce pergola vineyards. But the rows of mixed blends (Nebbiolo and Barbera) from which the red Canavese are obtained are also increasing. There are seven denominations of origin for twenty-seven types of wine, while in total the vineyards of the terroir extend over an area of ​​588 hectares, spread in 36 municipalities, for 36,130 quintals of grapes and over 3.6 million bottles. «To influence the quality of the grapes – adds the oenologist of the Cooperative, Paolo Vercelli – also the care of the vineyard: those who followed the treatments we recommended and kept the topies well ventilated, will have better bunches with a higher sugar content. In terms of quantity, a slightly lower yield is expected compared to 2020: approximately 3,000 quintals of Erbaluce docg and 600 quintals of red Canavese should be delivered to the cellar. The resulting Erbaluce and Canavese wines will be of excellent quality: the wine will be long-lived and will be able to refine well over time ».