The 2024 harvest

Every year tells a story and 2024 is no exception. It was a journey marked by frequent rains and a fierce hailstorm on the last Sunday of May - a stark reminder of nature’s force but also of its ability to shape the resilience of those who live by it. After much effort, the harvest yielded about 700 hectoliters of wine. Not abundant, but not scant either. Neither exceptional nor ordinary in quality. It is the harvest of modesty, one that teaches us to appreciate the value of "just enough". Few gifts and a bit of misfortune occasionally interrupted the serious and focused mood, locally known as "muso duro e baréta fracà" (stern face and flat cap).

The season’s gifts: ample water availability eased the thirst of the vines. The harvest itself was slow and manageable and the fermentations were quick and clean - a relief after such a dedicated effort.

The less welcome surprises: bureaucratic madness, hail damage, roe deer, wild boars, landslides and erosion (ranked here in order of "popularity," from the most tolerated to the least).

At Ca’ Lustra, however, the 2024 harvest also brought joy through small experiments. Some micro-vinifications of new red grape varieties are already bottled, tailored for the increasingly warm Aganoor vineyards, where we are also consolidating the cultivation of the white Pinella grape - one of the few varieties suited to this area. We ventured into (methodical and well-planned) grape juice production and took our first small step into the world of apple ciders.

Per aspera ad astra (through hardships to the stars), as the Latins used to say.