In the winter months in Brolio everything seems swathed in silence, far from the frenzy of the other months of the year. The scent of burnt wood that comes from the fireplaces of the farmhouses all around the vineyards reminds us of the pleasant warmth of our homes at the end of the day. In the countryside, this is the period for pruning, one of the most important operations of the year that shapes the development of the vineyards and their production capacity.

Our Technical Director, Massimiliano Biagi, says:
“Fifty people are involved in pruning from mid-December until the end of February. Judicious hands that cut the branches of young vines to train their growth, the development scheme chosen to optimize production. They also prune the older vines on which the production of grapes for the upcoming vintage depends. Of equal importance is the so-called “formative” pruning they carry out, necessary to prolong the life of older plants.

In this period, shoots are also taken from the clones of our Sangiovese, registered at the Ministry of Agriculture, and delivered to nurseries to be grafted. In this way we will have new plants available to create new vineyards or replace dead plants in existing ones.

In the cellar we are instead focused on the evaluation of the past harvest, with continuous tastings to fine-tune the barrel aging and to prepare the wines that will be bottled shortly, such as Albia 2020 in our white and rosé versions.”