2006 HARVEST: SIMILARITIES TO 2005 HARVEST, BUT ALL ARE HOPING CONDITIONS BETWEEN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER WILL BE BETTER. COMMENTS BY ENOLOGISTS RENZO AND RICCARDO COTARELLA, FERRINI, PAGLI, LANDI, MERCURIO, CORINO, LANATI

A necessary preliminary note: grape harvest predictions must be taken lightly because it is impossible at this point to precisely define the outcome of the 2006 harvest because we don’t know what the decisive month of September will hold for us, meteorogically speaking. Nevertheless, the experience of some of the most important names in Italian wine, who www.winenews.it has had exclusive contact with, together with a notable improvement in national winemaking (an aspect that is often ignored), creates a solid starting point to help “decipher” the fundamental lines that the 2006 harvest will follow.
For Riccardo Cotarella, the enological consultant who has recently taken on India as well, “up until today, looking at the situation of central Italy, a positive harvest is being outlined, where good production is accompanied by general good health in vineyards. The current conditions imply that it will be a beautiful harvest, possibly very beautiful, but we must see what the weather holds for us in the next 30-50 days”.
Renzo Cotarella, general manager of Antinori, echoes his brother’s words: “The state of health of the grapes is very good and the grapes are slightly late in maturing. If it does not rain anymore in the next month and a half, we should have a result similar to that of the 2005 harvest, but with quality tendentially superior”. Laconic and wishing against ill luck, Carlo Ferrini, enologist for some of the most important names in Tuscany and Sicily, commented, “we hope that this month will pass quickly.
Today, the grapes are very beautiful and healthy overall”. Similar evaluation by Attilio Pagli, head enological consultant of Gruppo Matura: “for now it seems to be a very interesting year, balanced by ideal temperatures for grapes. In Umbria, Marche, and Tuscany the situation is pretty homogenous, while in Romagna the higher rain levels in the latest period could compromise the state of health of the grapes”.
For Lorenzo Landi, consultant as well as enologist for the Saiagricola group, “the situation today is good and the grapes are healthy. It will not be an early harvest, more or less like that of 2005. The rain arrived at the right moment, to refresh water stress that was provoked by the torrid heat in late July. If it rains very little, or better, not at all, during the month of September, the current levels will remain stable and it could be a great year, given that the weight of the grape clusters, in respect to last year, is lower and the berries are smaller”.
From Campania, with special reference to Irpinia, judgment of the 2006 harvest by Vincenzo Mercurio, enologist at Mastroberardino: “good doses of cool temperatures and rain make me think it will be a good harvest. White vines have enjoyed very good temperature ranges, favoring the preservation of aromas. Red vines have had an extraordinary accumulation of anthocyanins between June and July. But here it is still early to sing victory given that we will begin to harvest whites in about 25 days and for reds another two months must pass”.
Another voice in the south, Carlo Corino, enologist at Planeta and Cantina Settesoli, explains what is happening in Sicily: “up until August 15th the situation was very close to that of 2005, then there was a sort of acceleration in the maturation process of the grapes caused by a heat wave and the scirocco, which forced a harvest, especially of the precocious ones. It seems that we can expect a good year even for the later grapes”. And, finally, opinion on the situation in northern Italy by Donato Lanati, enologist leading the Enosis studio: “in regards to the quantitative data, a decrease in respect to 2005 is to be expected, caused by the hail that, in Piedmont, did not compromise the health of the grapes but caused a sort of “natural” thinning out, while in Friuli the recent and copious rains of August together with the humidity could threaten the state of health of the grapes. The precocious Piemontese grapes are good, aromas safeguarded by the cool temepratures. It is still early to judge the later grapes like nebbiolo and barbera”. A harvest, therefore, that can be considered slightly late from the point of view of grape maturation, but characterized by a substantial grape health. This is a point that is, without a doubt, ascribable to the increased agronomic abilities of Italian companies, as was noted initially. Less vineyard treatments, that are more closely targeted now manage to avert, apart from rare cases, the propagation of parasites and diseases on grapevines.
This harvest will, in part, be conditioned by rather see-sawing climactic conditions, which in July caused fears for the worst by reconjuring memories of torrid 2003 and the preoccupation of imbalances in the accumulation of substances in grapes. The month of August was not a benevolent month weather-wise, during which a slowing down of grape maturation was verified. From the quantitative point of view, a slight increase is predicted, but, even in this case, it is agronomic ability (and market demand) that controls the quantity of grapes and not the year, especially for large companies that work on quality. Practices like that of green harvests are the order of the day and modern vineyards, with their cultivation, can guarantee the quantity of equilibrated grapes according to the needs of various enological projects. The course of weather patterns in the next few weeks will remain, however, the most decisive factor.