Jean-Baptiste Ferrandi planted vines in 2019, he is harvesting the fruits today. This ex-nurse is the owner of the only terraced vineyard of Patrimonio. The first bunches were harvested yesterday while waiting for the first bottles scheduled for March 2022
The sun has not yet submerged the plain as little hands are already busy. To the edge of Barbaggio and Heritage, Jean-Baptiste Ferrandi, family and friends collect “A reasonable amount” clusters of raisin of Malvasia (endemic white wine grape) on their second and last day of grape harvest. Owner of two vineyards, the 40-year-old winegrower, like his wife Patricia, practiced nursing a short time ago. Corn “The call of the earth” was too intense not to succumb.
READ ALSO: Video. The Patrimonio winegrowers start their harvest
It is now the agricultural areas inherited from his great-grandparents that the Ferrandi family will take care of.
The clos U Suale is the only terraced vineyard in Patrimonio. Seven stone walls stratify 1.4 hectares of vines. “It’s a titanic job to do this with my bare hands and I don’t want to destroy everything. All the harvests are done by hand, we cannot and do not want to use machines. This year is considered a test because it is the first performance in three years ”, explains Jean-Baptiste Ferrandi.
A year of work with the pickax …
But before getting familiar with the final result, it took a year to remove the oak forest that had invaded the exploitable space. Armed with pickaxes (and the help of a lumberjack), they tackled the dense mass and roots “Firmly anchored in the ground” before fully launching their new life project. “We are very proud to be able to use the terraces, it is a heritage that should not be touched, we have spruced up two of them and we would not change them for the world”, enthusiastically affirms Patricia Ferrandi, wife of Jean-Baptiste.
Even Vincent, the 13-year-old son, got his hands dirty and discovered a passion fueled by his father’s daily life. ” I really like it. I want to become a cook and if I can bring wine to my skills, that’s great ”, he expresses himself with a lot of lucidity for his young age.
Small harvest, Niellucciu and help from Stephanie Olmeta
Young bunches of grapes that have been growing for two years do not overfill containers with only “About fifteen crates and 200 kilograms”, but the harvest is completed in three short hours. “These are small grapes but concentrated in aromas. My bias is that of quality which takes precedence over quantity. As a first harvest, it’s already very good ”, estimates Jean-Baptiste Ferrandi.
If the harvest was carried out in record time, it is also because of the devastation caused by wild boars and birds which plunder, eat and deteriorate. The losses are evaluated at 70% of the site’s capacity. Mother Nature does not compromise and the Ferrandi are already thinking about an adaptation for the next harvest: “We plan to install feeders to divert birds from the vines. It is very hot so they have to come and get the liquid in the grapes. “
Next year, in addition to the current area, the harvest will be able to extend to the Niellucciu (red wine variety) whose vines are beginning to emerge from the ground.
The agitation succeeds the feeling of duty performed when the bunches of grapes are sprayed with carbon dioxide and immersed in the 2,850-liter tank installed in the cellar of Stephanie Olmeta (Patrimonio) which hosts the Ferrandi productions. “You have to go quickly so that the oxygen infiltrates as little as possible inside the tank”, says a friend of the family who came to help with the harvest. Around 1,300 to 1,500 bottles are planned for March 2022, when the natural winemaking process will be completed.
–