Assoenologi & Uiv: “no forecasts, but data at the end of harvest”. Coldiretti “agrees”

As in France, no official forecasts on the size of the 2026 grape harvest in Italy either , even though harvesting has begun in recent days. Instead, only final figures will be released once the harvest is complete, meaning that the usual “curtain” of harvest forecasts will remain closed, as previously reported by WineNews. The announcement was made today by Assoenologi and Uiv in an official statement explaining that: “for the 2026 wine-growing season, it has been decided not to organize the traditional harvest forecast conference held by Assoenologi, Ismea and Uiv. This decision derives from the desire to provide information which is as accurate and representative as possible of the season progress. In a context increasingly more characterized by highly variable climatic conditions, estimates made before the conclusion of the harvest may be subject to significant revisions. For this reason, it is believed that it is more useful to present final data at the end of the harvest campaign, when it will be possible to provide a complete and reliable picture of production volumes, grape quality and the main characteristics of the vintage”. For this reason, the two organizations, Assoenologi and Uiv, hope that, “as requested from the relevant authorities, the deadline for grape harvest declarations can be moved forward to mid-November next year”.
This decision and request from two of Italy leading wine industry organizations mirrors the position already taken by the French wine sector, which in recent days formally asked the government not to publish harvest estimates too early in August. The official position taken by Assoenologi and Uiv against issuing early quantitative forecasts also echoes what was communicated yesterday during reports on the start of the harvest in Sicily, where the harvest season will last nearly 100 days across Italy “wine continent”, as noted by both the Sicilia DOC Consortium and Assovini, and in Oltrepò Pavese (from Conte Vistarino to Defilippi I Gessi), with harvesting also beginning tomorrow in Franciacorta, one of the emblematic regions of both Italian and global sparkling wine production.
This approach is undoubtedly reasonable and grounded in common sense, considering that in recent years the quantitative forecasts issued shortly after the start of harvesting have often had to be significantly revised, sometimes dramatically, due to increasingly more unpredictable weather patterns and a growing number of extreme climate events. However, the decision is also influenced by the particularly delicate situation currently facing the wine sector, and by the desire to avoid speculation on grape and bulk wine prices based on data which may later prove inaccurate, thereby creating unnecessary additional market complications. As a result, to understand how the 2026 season has truly unfolded in the vineyards, “the next meeting will take place after the conclusion of the harvest, in order to share an in-depth analysis of the results of the 2026 campaign and the outlook for the wine sector”, conclude Assoenologi and Uiv.
Coldiretti also commented yesterday in a press release, stating that: “never before has it been so difficult to make quantitative predictions about a harvest which will effectively be spread over a period of almost five months and that represents a genuine winemaking challenge for producers, especially considering the sugar concentration that record temperatures and drought conditions are currently causing in the grapes. For the moment, however, the risk of downy mildew appears to have been averted, and quality is being described almost everywhere as excellent”.