The 2024 sparkling wine harvest is well underway; high expectations for quality and quantity

The earliest grape varieties, from Sicily to the Central and Northern Regions of Italy, are in the wine cellars, especially for sparkling wine bases, which are now produced in a great variety of styles and vines, just about everywhere in Italy. Since the large territories that produce Italian sparkling wines are concentrated mostly in the North, between Piedmont and Friuli Venezia Giulia, Trentino Alto Adige, Lombardy and Veneto, they have been the first to be harvested at the “district” level. These territories are important from an identity as well as economic point of view, because bubbles (and white wines) are growing on the market average, in Italy, and are now worth over a quarter of exports in value (885.1 million euros in the first 5 months of 2024, + 9.1%, of the total 3.2 billion euros of Italian wine exports in the period, up 4.9%, according to the Italian statistics institute, ISTAT data, analyzed by WineNews. Furthermore, the situation appears very good almost everywhere, and the harvest forecasts are excellent in terms of quality, and also quantity, even though there are a few exceptions.
The Lombardy Region officially began the harvest. Franciacorta began cutting grape bunches starting the week of August 15th and the Franciacorta Consortium, led by Silvano Brescianini, reported that predictions from producers were excellent. Following a complicated climate trend, the wineries reported that July temperatures were frequently above 30° C, and almost no rain, which favored grapes ripening well, leading to an average production load and healthy grapes. The grape harvest will continue until the end of the month. Also in Lombardy, the harvest of Pinot Nero, a symbolic grape variety of the territory, and Chardonnay has just begun in Oltrepò Pavese. The harvest will produce -30% drop in grapes on average, due to bad weather and too much rain, reports Coldiretti, but good quality is expected, especially for whites and sparkling bases. And, in the same time frame, TrentoDoc, the mountain bubbles that are the symbol of Trentino wine, will also start grape harvesting. Ferrari Trento, one of the symbolic wineries in the territory, will begin harvesting the Chardonnay grape bunches at the lowest altitude and then continue, in a month, up to the highest vineyards, of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Predictions of the quality level of the grapes first, and then of the sparkling wines are positive, but the yield is expected to be “significantly lower than in 2023”, following an especially challenging year. “Never before has the expertise of the winemakers and our team of agronomists proved so fundamental”, Marcello Lunelli, vice president of Ferrari, commented, “to obtain healthy grapes with a rich aromatic profile”. The Mezzacorona Group, another leader in the local wine sector, one of the most virtuous wine cooperatives in Italy, and one of the big names in TrentoDoc, together with Rotari, confirmed to WineNews that the harvest of sparkling bases for Trentodoc is underway, and the first bunches of Chardonnay will probably be cut starting this weekend.
The Prosecco world, instead, is still waiting. The Prosecco DOC Consortium has announced that it should start to harvest this week, starting with complementary varieties, such as Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco and Chardonnay, especially in the westernmost area. Harvest of the Glera grape, the main variety of Prosecco, should start towards the end of the first week of September, if the situation doesn’t change, as quantities are currently in line with the historical average, and grapes are very healthy. Then, few days later, grape harvesting should start in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG area, as the president of the Consortium, Franco Adami, explained, “as of today, we expect to start harvesting in the second week of September. The vineyard is going well, but we still hope for some rain and an improvement in the temperature range, to do even better. At the moment, we are expecting a good year, in quality and quantity”.
In Piedmont, in the Asti area and its Moscato, the harvest, “considering the data we have today and from the samplings we are doing, should start at the beginning of September. To date, we have good temperature ranges that favor the aromatic expression of the Moscato, and there are no particular problems in the vineyard, while quantities are expected to be around the average for the area”, Giacomo Pondini, director of the Consorzio dell’Asti DOCG, commented. Instead, in the Alta Langa area, the harvest should begin between the end of August and the beginning of September, starting with Pinot Noir. “We had some rain in spring, and also in the last few weeks, but thanks to the work of farmers and winemakers, in this challenging year, the grapes are healthy, and to date, quantities are estimated to be average”, Paolo Rossino, director of the Consorzio Alta Langa, commented.