Alta Langa, Asti, Trentodoc, Alto Adige, Doc delle Venezie: the North increasingly focused harvest

It began in mid-July with the first grapes harvested in Sicily by Cantine Ermes. Sicily, together with Franciacorta, were the first areas to enter the harvest phase at the beginning of August. The 2025 harvest is expected to be abundant almost everywhere (the very first estimates, by Coldiretti, speak of 45 million hectoliters) and with very high expectations for quality given the almost total absence of disease from north to south, except for sporadic cases, as reported by many wineries, from Trentino Alto Adige to Sicily, between mid-August and the present, there are many areas where the harvest is taking shape in an increasingly significant way.
A few days after mid-August, for example, the harvest began in Alta Langa, home to Piedmont’s famous Metodo Classico sparkling wines. The harvest started a few days earlier than average with Pinot Noir, followed by Chardonnay. According to a statement by the Consortium, chaired by Giovanni Minetti, the grapes “are in excellent health, with a good balance between acidity and aromatic components”, promising a harvest with excellent prospects. Remaining in Piedmont and on the subject of sparkling wines, the harvest of Moscato Bianco for Asti DOCG has also begun in the last few hours. The Consortium, led by Stefano Ricagno, speaks of “an overall excellent vintage in terms of quality, characterized by the regular ripening of Moscato Bianco”. The prospects are therefore good for a 10,000-hectare appellation, where harvesting has begun in the early low hill areas and will be completed by the first week of September in the high hills. “Currently, the grapes are in good phytosanitary condition with good acidity, sugar content, and aroma. In terms of quantity, the harvest will have to take into account the reduction in yields for the 2025 harvest season from 100 to 90 quintals per hectare, of which 5 are destined for storage. These are production containment measures approved by the consortium with the aim of safeguarding the designation in an increasingly complex economic context, aggravated by the confirmation of 15% US tariffs on wine”, explains the Consortium. According to Ricagno, “while the conditions for an excellent harvest are all there, US tariffs risk weighing heavily on Asti DOCG. Not only for sparkling wine, which is already suffering from a collapse in orders from Russia - its primary market - due to the conflict, but above all for Moscato d’Asti, which is native to the region and accounts for 60% of its sales abroad in the US. Added to this is the risk of substitution with local Moscato, which, although of lower quality, will become even more affordable in terms of price. This is a perfect storm for us, which we are trying to stem through containment measures to preserve the balance between supply and demand, but we need the support of the institutions”.
In any case, returning to the vineyard, harvesting has already been underway for a few days in the DOC delle Venezie, Italy’s largest DOC, covering 27,000 hectares of vineyards in Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, and the Province of Trento, capable of producing 230 million bottles each year, and where the Pinot Grigio harvest has begun: “a promising vintage in terms of quality with a slight increase in quantity, marked by strategic experiments to respond to the growing demand for low-alcohol wines”m explains the Consortium led by Luca Rigotti. “We are excited to begin a harvest that sees our Consortium engaged on several fronts: quality, innovation, and sustainability,” said Rigotti. “The 2025 production season marks an important moment, especially for the experimental activities launched for the production of low-alcohol Pinot Grigio. We strongly believe in this project, which aims to ensure a sustainable future for the sector by responding to changes in the preferences of consumers who are increasingly aware and attentive to a healthy lifestyle, starting with lighter wines with reduced calorie content. This is an innovative and strategic path, perfectly in line with our commitment to the partnership with “Wine in Moderation” launched last year”, continued President Rigotti. “We are convinced that innovation is the key to enhancing our appellation and successfully addressing emerging market challenges”. Quantitative estimates show slight growth compared to the last two more modest years, while the stable weather forecast for the coming days should favor a positive completion of the harvest, which has already begun in some areas slightly earlier than in 2024. As regards supply management measures, the actions requested by the Consorzio Doc Delle Venezie have been approved for the 2025 harvest, with particular reference to the reduction of the maximum yield (from 180 to 170 quintals of grapes/hectare) and the storage of 20 quintals/hectare, with the aim of ensuring market balance and more effective regulation of production potential and value.
The grape harvest is also underway in Trentino-Alto Adige. And if the grapes for the production of Trentodoc, the famous “mountain bubbles”, began arriving in the cellars on August 19, as announced on social media by the Istituto Trentodoc, led by Stefano Fambri (who is also director of Nosio - Rotari of the Mezzacorona Group, one of the most virtuous cooperatives in Italy), Ferrari Trento, the famous local brand, says it is looking forward to the harvest with “optimism, as it promises to be positive in terms of quality and normal in terms of quantity”. The harvest is also starting in Alto Adige, a little earlier than usual: “At higher altitudes, vegetation is even further ahead of the historical average, so the harvest will start not only a week early, but even more”, says Andreas Kofler, president of the Consorzio Vini Alto Adige, who is optimistic, even in this case, about the 2025 harvest. “At the moment, the grapes look magnificent, partly because the region has been spared heavy hailstorms and there have been no problems with vine diseases. Obviously, the grapes are not yet in the cellar, but we hope everything will continue in the best possible way”, explains Kofler. And this year’s yield “should also be average”.
Meanwhile, early white varieties are being harvested, awaiting Sangiovese and others in the Chianti region, Tuscany's largest appellation (3,600 hectares and 75 million bottles sold each year, ed), where estimates by the Consortium, led by Giovanni Busi, indicate a reduction in production of between 10 and 15% compared to last year, which, however, is accompanied by a positive figure: overall production remains above the average for the last five years (+2.93%). The quality of the grapes is considered good, with higher sugar levels than in 2024. “By September 10, approximately 15-20% of the harvest will be completed, with the harvest in full swing in the first days of September for white varieties and from the middle of the month for red varieties. For Tuscany, explains the Chianti Consortium, estimated production is 2.4 million hectoliters of wine, down from 2.7 million in 2024, but still in line with medium-term forecasts. On the other hand, the share of organic wine is growing, now representing 13-15% of the regional total, with an increase of 10% compared to last year”. And while expectations regarding quality are encouraging, with an overall positive phytosanitary situation, there is concern about stocks, “which are higher today than last year as a result of a reduction in sales: a factor that makes the work of promoting and positioning Chianti wine on the markets even more important”. “This year’s harvest”, says Giovanni Busi, president of the Chianti Wine Consortium, “is taking place in a complex context, marked by climate change and market uncertainties. Volumes will be lower, but the quality allows us to look to the future with confidence. The reduction in production that we estimate for this year (including a 20% cut in grape yield, compared to the maximum of 110 quintals per hectare for Chianti DOCG, ed.) is the result of a strategic plan that the Chianti Consortium defined at its June meeting”. This is not a contingent fact, but a deliberate choice, shared with our producers, to guarantee higher quality and give Chianti more strength on the markets. Chianti is not just a designation, it is a pillar of the Tuscan agricultural economy and the symbol of a territory that is synonymous with excellence throughout the world. Our task as a Consortium is to protect the work of winegrowers, support the competitiveness of wineries, and consolidate Chianti’s international reputation. Only in this way can we guarantee a solid and recognizable future for our designation. These, then, are the territorial analyses, with the first bunches, however, as some individual wineries report, beginning to arrive in cellars in many other areas, from Oltrepò Pavese to Collio, in Friuli, but also in Tuscany, as well as in Puglia and beyond. With producers who, now more than ever, have their feet in the vineyard and their heads in an increasingly competitive and complex market...