“If you travel it shows” is the slogan of BIT 2024, the Italian Tourism Exchange to be held in Milan from 4 to 6 February 2024. A truth that embodies the philosophy of the Monteriggioni winery, whose focus is to imprint a taste of the Italian lifestyle in its guests. Guests from all over the world, guests who have travelled a long way to encounter the history and flavors of the Bel Paese. Guests that Poggio ai Laghi welcomes with a smile and says goodbye. BIT 2024 is a further opportunity to intercept lovers of Tuscany and Made in Italy, as well as trade operators: the first day of the fair will in fact be open to the public, who can delight in imagining and planning their next trip.
A glass of Chianti awaits you in Hall 3 at stand 121
Poggio ai Laghi will be open to visitors in Hall 3 at stand 121 of the BIT, in a space built both to be visible to the public and operators, and to offer a foretaste of a future visit to the Monteriggioni winery by tasting its wines. Tourism and wine are the ideal combination for those who want to peek into the backstage of one of the most fashionable products in the world, wine, and peek into a lifestyle that seems almost lost. Nature cannot be forced in its rhythms, wine cannot be forced in its genesis and refinement. In the Tuscan panorama of hundreds of historic wine-producing realities, Poggio ai Laghi emerges for a concept designed to be enjoyed by people from cultures even distant from the Italian one, to make anyone who wishes to share a piece of Tuscan beauty with his team feel at home. Poggio ai Laghi, a unique Tuscan Experience.
On occasion, the winemaker may decide to leave them in if the grapes themselves contain less tannin than desired. This is more acceptable if the stems have ‘ripened’ and started to turn brown. If increased skin extraction is desired, a winemaker might choose to crush the grapes after destemming.
Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.
Removal of stems first means no stem tannin can be extracted. In these cases the grapes pass between two rollers which squeeze the grapes enough to separate the skin and pulp, but not so much as to cause excessive shearing or tearing of the skin tissues. In some cases, notably with “delicate” red varietals such as Pinot noir or Syrah, all or part of the grapes might be left uncrushed (called “whole berry”) to encourage the retention of fruity aromas through partial carbonic maceration.
The Grapes
The quality of the grapes determines the quality of the wine more than any other factor. Grape quality is affected by variety as well as weather during the growing season, soil minerals and acidity, time of harvest, and pruning method. The combination of these effects is often referred to as the grape’s terroir.
Grapes are usually harvested from the vineyard from early September until early November in the northern hemisphere, and mid February until early March in the southern hemisphere.
In some cool areas in the southern hemisphere, for example Tasmania, harvesting extends into May. The most common species of wine grape is Vitis Vinifera, which includes nearly all varieties of European origin. The most common species of wine grape is Vitis Vinifera, which includes nearly all varieties of European origin.
Manual harvesting is the hand-picking of grape clusters from the grapevines. In the United States, some grapes are picked into one- or two-ton bins for transport back to the winery. Manual harvesting has the advantage of using knowledgeable labor to not only pick the ripe clusters but also to leave behind the clusters that are not ripe or contain bunch rot or other defects. This can be an effective first line of defense to prevent inferior quality fruit from contaminating a lot or tank of wine.
Destemming is the process of separating stems from the grapes. Depending on the winemaking procedure, this process may be undertaken before crushing with the purpose of lowering the development of tannins and vegetal flavors in the resulting wine. Single berry harvesting, as is done with some German Trockenbeerenauslese, avoids this step altogether with the grapes being individually selected.
Crushing is the process when gently squeezing the berries and breaking the skins to start to liberate the contents of the berries. Destemming is the process of removing the grapes from the rachis (the stem which holds the grapes).
In traditional and smaller-scale wine making, the harvested grapes are sometimes crushed by trampling them barefoot or by the use of inexpensive small scale crushers. These can also destem at the same time. However, in larger wineries, a mechanical crusher/destemmer is used. The decision about destemming is different for red and white wine making. Generally when making white wine the fruit is only crushed, the stems are then placed in the press with the berries. The presence of stems in the mix facilitates pressing by allowing juice to flow past flattened skins.
