Barolo, 2024 harvest as an example of “resilience, commitment, experience, and long-term vision”

An example of resilience, where the difficulties have been coped with commitment, experience, and a long-term vision. This is the extreme synthesis of 2024 harvest in the territory of Barolo, one of the most prestigious places of Italian and world wine, in Langhe Unesco heritage, according to vine growers belonging to Deditus Association (to which Azelia, Cordero di Montezemolo, Sandrone, Michele Chiarlo, Pio Cesare, Poderi Gianni Gagliardo, Poderi Luigi Einaudi, Prunotto and Vietti belong). According to them, “if the resulting wines will live up to expectations, it is all up to the unceasing work of vine growers, and wineries, ready to transform every difficulty into an opportunity for the growth, and the evolution of the territory”. As a matter of fact, according to Dedidus wine producers, “2024 harvest was, without any doubt, one of the most demanding for Langhe wine producers, but it also demonstrated the great ability of the region to adapt to the challenges of the climate change. As affirmed by Gianni Gagliardo, Deditus president and founder (whose first nucleus arose in the Nineties, thanks to the same Gagliardo for Barolo auction, and, that, today, puts together the great families of Langa, owners of directly managed vineyards in the boundaries of Barolo denomination, ed), each harvest represents an opportunity to learn something new, to enhance, and to adapt to new conditions. Langa is accustomed to do it, and this harvest taught us a lot”. Also in a context of climatic uncertainties and productive challenges that characterized 2024.
As a matter of fact, the year opened with a particularly rainy spring, and the summer was characterized by peaks of heat, and it finished under the pressure of abundant rainfalls forcing to an accelerated harvest. A real resilience test for wine producers, but also an opportunity to enhance vineyard management, and to cope with the theme of the adaptation to climate change. Lorenzo Scavino, by Azelia, observed how 2024 represented a unique experience, mainly for the new generations of vine growers: “we had weather conditions never seen in the last 30 years. Spring rainfalls, and a summer with heat peaks have influenced the work in the vineyard a lot”. The threat of fall rainfalls has forced to a more rapid harvest, but the final result seems to be promising: “with an alcohol content slightly lower to past vintages, and an optimal acidity, the wines promise to be fresh and balanced”.
According to Stefano Chiarlo by Michele Chiarlo, the work of wine producer has been crucial for the management of a harvest that needed maniacal attention. “This year, the work in the vineyard has been almost surgical: each bunch was monitored with extreme attention. The position of the vineyards, especially in Sorì di Barolo, made the difference”, explained Chiarlo, referring to sunnier zones which have contributed to a quality harvest despite difficult climate conditions.
Also Enrico Olivieri, enologist of wine company Cordero di Montezemolo, highlighted how much manual work was determined in this harvest. 2024 has been “a long harvest, but short in the real days of harvest”, the rain forced many wine producers to program the harvest in restricted times. The result? A vintage which requested more experience, and great attention, but, mainly, a vintage in which the difference was made by people, workers, who had to navigate with flexibility and commitment, and who showed, still another time, how teamwork made the difference.
Luca Sandrone by Luciano Sandrone added that, even if this harvest was atypical compared to the last 20 years, “it doesn’t distance itself by the historical average of the area”. According to him, the vintage was a sort of return to the past, with a major commitment in the management of work teams, and harvest times. “The entrepreneur has to be capable of managing the work in a precise way, mainly in the case of extreme weather conditions, such as in the case of abundant rainfalls that characterized this vintage”, explained Sandrone.
Also Eugenio Palumbo by Vietti observed positive aspects despite the difficulties. Rain had a beneficial effect on younger vineyards, mainly after the previous vintage. “Young vineyards have been really tested, but rain came just in time to save them”, declared Palumbo.
The efforts we put, from the first to the last”, concludes Gianluca Torrengo, enologist at Prunotto, “were those of trying to take the best from this vintage, and try to control the flaws, and to amplify the moments of opportunity”.
Despite the difficulties, many wine producers agree about the fact, that the wines of this vintage are characterized by a great freshness and fineness.Stefano Gagliardo by Poderi Gianni Gagliardo, for example, declared that the wines of this vintage could have a “finer” profile compared to other years, but of great elegance. “Tannins are mature, and smells are already promising”, he observed. And, nonetheless, as Cesare Benvenuto by Pio Cesare recalls: “wines often save us some surprises. Vintages initially defined as very critical got the chance to redeem themselves in the coming years”.