The red grapes have finished their fermentation. They are pressed and let to rest in vats. The white wine is almost there. The grapes are turning into wine, although the fermentation has taken longer than usual this year.

Grapes dried up like raisins several weeks before harvest, crushed grapes after hail and grapes eaten by thirsty wild boar. The extreme heat and dry climate this year may give Italian wine producers a reduction in grapes and wine of about 15-40 per cent.

With newly sharpened scissors in my hand, I stand there in front of the vines. I feel uncertain. I know I need to do a major pruning of each plant. But it is an art to know how. The sun is rising. There is frost on the ground starting to melt. Little tiny flowers are opening and blooming in the warmth of the late winter sun. Some of them reach my face. They are long-awaited. Soon the thermometer is going to show 15 degrees Celsius. It is in the middle of February. The most important thing now is to prune. Almost all the branches are cut-off close to the vine.…