Climate
The 2021 vintage in Bolgheri was characterized by a prolonged dry period from June until the end of September. However, unlike 2017, the particularly rainy winter helped to significantly increase the water reserves of the deep soils that characterize the area, providing the vines with the right support throughout the production phase. Spring, basically cool, favored a slight delay in budding and subsequent flowering. Summer temperatures have never been excessive, allowing for a slow and regular ripening of the grapes in each vineyard with excellent levels of integrity and health.
The Merlot harvest for Cont'Ugo began on 8 September on the earliest vineyards, and ended at the end of September with the later parcels.

Vinification
After manual harvesting and careful selection in the cellar, the grapes were transferred to thermo-conditioned stainless steel tanks where alcoholic fermentation and maceration took place, which lasted about 20 days. The fermentation temperature was managed according to the level of ripeness of the grapes: lower temperatures were chosen, around 25°C, to maintain greater aromatic freshness, and higher temperatures, up to around 30°C, to emphasize the polyphenolic extraction and structure. The different lots, divided by characteristics, were received in barriques where they completed their malolactic fermentation by the end of the year. The best lots have been blended and will again be in second passage barriques for a further 12 months of maturation, at the end of which the wine was bottled. Bottling took place in the first ten days of March 2023.