ISMEA-ITALIAN WINE UNION STUDY: FORECASTS FOR CONTAINED GROWTH FOR THE 2009 GRAPE HARVEST. EXTIRPATION AND THINNING OUT OF GRAPES COUNTERBALANCES THE PRODUCTION OF GENERALLY HEALTHY ITALIAN VINEYARDS

Andrea Sartori, president of the Italian Wine Union commented that the 2009 grape harvest will be relatively abundant and, for now, not inferior to that of 2008, which, according to ISTAT data produced 46 million hectoliters. This is the opinion that has emerged after a study on the state of Italian vineyards during the first 10 days of July by ISMEA and the Italian Wine Union.

The 2009 harvest, which will soon begin, could even produce slightly more than that of 2008, with growth that, according to the first ISMEA/Italian Wine Union estimates, should not reach more than a 5% increase. However, the harvest will most probably reap a total that is lower than the average 48 million hectoliters of the past five years. This is due to the damage done by heavy rains that hit the peninsula in July and, above all, because of meteorological conditions that vineyards will undergo in the last weeks before the harvest. As for the vegetative calendar, the harvest may be a few days ahead of that of 2008 thanks to a sufficient water reserve and to a hot May.

“This year” – explained the president of ISMEA, Arturo Semerari, and Italian Wine Union president, Andrea Sartori – “voluntary extirpation with an applicative prize by the new CMO has contained productive growth. It should be remembered that winemakers who had their requests for extirpation recognized had to have concluded it by May 31. For the application of the first CMO campaign 2008-2009, the requests included 11,600 hectares in Italy. As well, it has become increasingly more common the practice of thinning out grape clusters, used primarily to increase the quality of production with a loss in quantity”.

Prospects on the qualitative front are good: “notwithstanding the meteorological conditions that were favourable for pathogens like Peronospora, there was an increased level of attention by operators who intervened in a timely manner with adequate treatments. If one looks at regional details, a substantial homogeneity can be observed among the different regions. Almost all are around the 2008 production levels or slightly superior. Only a few exceptions may result in production levels inferior to 2008 (Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Marche, Molise).