Towards a good harvest, but prices and markets worry Italian producers

The harvest is expected to be good in terms of quality and quantity throughout the country, but producers are still concerned about prices and market stability. The overview of the pre-harvest situation provided by Assoenologi, Ismea and Unione Italiana Vini (UIV), before the next harvest (whose official data will be presented on September 3 in an online conference together with the Minister of Agriculture Teresa Bellanova), confirms a difficult economic context, where it is necessary to work to recover the growth spaces on the horizon.
The wine sector is going through a decisive moment of a complex season: if at the moment an interesting harvest is expected, with healthy grapes and a vegetative cycle that promises a slightly earlier harvest, there is still a sentiment of uncertainty among the producers. To weigh in, there is a short-term view of orders from both domestic and foreign demand, while expectations of a return to pre-COVID economic levels in the coming years are better.
A general situation that must stimulate a renewed confrontation between the Ministry and the supply chain in order to define tools capable of relaunching demand, with new promotion strategies concerted with companies and representative organizations to reposition the presence and prestige of Italian wine in the world. There is a need for recovery measures going beyond distillation aid, the impact of which on the decrease in stocks, in the light of the outcome of the call for tenders, will be very limited, and measures on the reduction in yields, the real effects of which will not be seen before the conclusion of the harvest operations and the submission of production declarations.
In terms of weather conditions, April and May reported mild temperatures and low rainfall, unlike June and for the most part July, when thermal conditions were slightly below normal, with abundant rainfall and heat waves limited to the last few days of the month. From a phytosanitary point of view, the vineyards are healthy, with few outbreaks of leopard spot infections along the Peninsula. Only in some areas of Trentino and Friuli has downy mildew caused damage, although the situation is under control, while powdery mildew has been found with a greater presence in Romagna, Tuscany and Abruzzo. A positive condition, in the awareness, that everything is still at stake: the next weeks will be determinant for sparkling wine bases and the next months for other wines.