November 2023
Dear Friends,
Right now every Fiat has a wicker basket permanently on the back seat, ready for gathering chestnuts or porcini mushrooms. Our amazing team celebrated the harvest with a traditional benfinita, marking the end of the growing year. Autumn sunsets are a nightly spectacle with unreal colors and laser-sharp silhouettes of distant villages. Temperatures are falling and, with the hour change, social life draws inwards. Like the vines, we prepare for a period of repose.
Vintage 2023 : First Impressions
We left you with a pre-harvest cliffhanger. September was a gift; we had weeks without rain, practically a second summer. This meant harvesting based on optimal ripeness rather than reacting to the weather forecast. Our infant red wines are showing mouth-watering fruit and freshness. The Chardonnay, already aging in the barrel, is delicious, beautifully floral with the necessary salinity. In spite of the challenging vintage, we are very satisfied with the results. When Giovanni and Corinna are already using superlatives about the young wines, take note!
Digging for Local Diamonds
Say it with flowers? Better yet, with a tartufo. ‘Round here the best guests arrive with a knobbly white truffle hidden in a jar of rice. You may have heard of Alba but the so-called diamonds of our region are equally special. Ultima Pietra is next to San Giovanni D’Asso, the epicentre of the Tuscan truffle world. Peppino and Marco, our fattori, (from the Italian verb fare, meaning to to do) are in charge of our outdoor operations which also include truffle procurement for dinners with home-made tagliolini. Like so many locals, they spend their spare time searching for these elusive tubers with their trusty dogs.
The Ultimate Gift Service
Thinking of gifting Ultima Pietra wines? We will be offering curated holiday bundles starting on Monday 6th November. The offer will be open for just one week to meet international holiday shipping deadlines. Naturally we will add your personalized notes, handwritten on Ultima Pietra stationary and wrap each bottle in our signature navy blue tissue.
Finally, our liquid gold, the 2023 Extra Virgin Olive Oil will be available online starting Monday 13th November.
With gratitude for both endings and beginnings,
Margot
