Harvest 2024 already underway: the first bunches of grapes will fall tomorrow at Settesoli

The 2024 grape harvest, a key moment in the sector’s life cycle, an agricultural rite among the most fascinating, ancient and recounted, is already underway, due to early heat and drought. Tomorrow, July 18, the first bunches of grapes will fall, and as has been the case for years, it will happen in Sicily, in the Menfi area, as told by Settesoli, one of the largest cooperatives on the island and in Italy, which puts together 6,000 hectares of vines, cultivated by 2,000 winemakers, and now traditionally among the very first wineries in Italy to kick off the harvest. The harvest will begin with the white grape varieties already ready for picking: Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat and Chardonnay, followed by the other varieties. Next, it will be the turn of the red grapes, starting with Merlot and Alicante Bouschet.
“In autumn 2023 and winter 2024, rainfall was significantly below the seasonal average, with only 250 millimeters of rain out of the usual 500-600 millimeters. Limited water reserves in the vineyards”, they explain in Settesoli, “combined with a summer that started early as early as May with high temperatures accelerated all phenological stages of the vine. We observed an early sprouting with an advance of 10 days, followed by an early flowering at the end of April and an equally early veraison. These factors made it necessary to advance the harvest by 12 days over previous years. However, the warm Mediterranean climate created conditions hostile to disease development, with a total absence of powdery mildew, peronospera and botrytis, and as a result, the grapes are in an excellent and healthy state. Thanks to the temperature range recorded until a few weeks ago, we expect wines characterized by good minerality and acidity, qualities that will allow us to maintain the high standard of our wines”.