Harvest 2024, in Italy never such an early start. With many weather-related unknowns

“The 2024 grape harvest is probably the one with the greatest unknowns in recent years, and not only because of the strong anticipation of the start that will "spread" harvest operations over four months, a practically unique case in Europe and linked to the great biodiversity that characterizes Italy. A scenario that sees operations traditionally start with Pinot and Chardonnay sparkling wine grapes to continue in September and October with Glera for Prosecco and with the great native red grapes Sangiovese, Montepulciano and Nebbiolo, and even concluding in November with Aglianico and Nerello grapes on 658,000 hectares cultivated nationwide. A path that offers job opportunities for 1.3 million people directly engaged in vineyards, wineries and commercial distribution, as well as for those employed in related and service activities”. This is what Coldiretti said today at the start of operations in Contessa Entellina, Palermo, with the harvesting of the first bunches of Chardonnay grapes on the Di Giovanna farm in contrada Miccina (while already since July 18 harvesting has been taking place between the rows of the Settesoli winery, in Menfi).
“A grape harvest has never been so early in Italy, brought forward by 10 to 15 days as a result of climate change with the heat and lack of rain that have accelerated the ripening of the grapes especially in the South”, Coldiretti stresses in its analysis of the situation in the Italian Vineyard, the focus of the latest meeting of the Coldiretti Wine Council, chaired by Francesco Ferreri, in the presence of President Ettore Prandini. Weighing most heavily this year is the weather, in an Italy never so divided in two. “In a South besieged by drought, vines seem to have resisted more than other crops while the warm weather has nipped in the bud the risk of downy mildew, which last year cost Vineyard Italy as much as 11 million hectoliters less. Grape quality is therefore excellent with a high level of quality, and the arrival of rain could ensure a good production result. In the North, on the other hand, the unknowns are related to bad weather, with cloudbursts and hailstorms hitting the vineyards, with winemakers having to be increasingly careful about choosing the right time for harvesting and processing in the cellar”. Moreover, the weather also weighs on production costs, Coldiretti again reminds, from water to strategies to protect grapes from adverse events and diseases, with a significant burden on producers, as pointed out during the work of the Council.
“But also worrying are some EU policies, starting with the Commission's green light to alarmist labels in Ireland and with Belgium moving in the same direction. In fact, this is a trade-distorting regulation that is the result of an ideological approach to a food such as wine, which - Coldiretti argues - is a full part of the Mediterranean Diet and has 10,000 years of history, and whose traces in the world have been identified in the Caucasus, while in Italy there are records in Sicily already 4,100 years before Christ”. Italian production can count on 635 varieties registered in the vine register, twice as many as the French, with 70% of the bottles made in Italy destined for Docg, Doc and Igt with 332 Controlled Designation of Origin (DOC) wines, 76 Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin (DOCG) wines and 118 Typical Geographical Indication (IGT) wines recognized in Italy, and the remaining 30 percent for table wines, demonstrating the rich heritage of biodiversity that Italy can count on, which boasts all along the Peninsula the possibility of offering local wines of the highest quality thanks to a millenary tradition.