Italy’s poorest grape harvest in 2023: 38.3 million hectoliters (-23.2%)

The forecasts, certainly not favorable, of the 2023 grape harvest in Italy were well known and, on this site, we have punctually reported the voices of the sector starting with the entrepreneurs who, on a daily basis, live the vineyard. Now there are also the official data (sent by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry to Dg Agri) certifying that the last harvest was the lightest since the “Post-World War II” with “only” 38.3 million hectoliters with a 23.2% drop on 2022. A figure, this, in line with what was predicted at the end of November by the Assoenologi Observatory, Ismea and the Italian Wine Union (Uiv), which had already further revised downward the estimates from the beginning of September, speaking “of a range between 38 and 40 million hectoliters, with a contraction between -20% and -24%” with a reduction across the whole of Italy, starting “from the main production regions of the North, Veneto (-10%) and Piedmont (-17%)”.
The contraction, unprecedented since 1947, was driven in particular by attacks of downy mildew, a fungal disease caused by frequent rains that affected many vineyards, especially in the central and southern regions. While the September summer further lightened the product, it also positively affected grape quality. In the made-in-Italy production landscape, explain the Assoenologi, Ismea and Uiv Observatory, “PDO wines weigh in at nearly 52%, while PGIs account for 25% of the product”.
Looking at European data, published by the EU Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, which take into account thirteen countries (Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia), it can be seen that Italy had produced 50.1 million hectoliters a year ago. This decline is not generalized across the continent because France, which closed the vintage with 48.1 million hectoliters surpassing Italy as the leading producer, had exceeded 44 million hectoliters in 2022, while Spain goes down with 32.1 million hectoliters compared to 40.7 in 2022. Overall, in the 13 European countries surveyed, production is 138.9 million hectoliters in 2023, compared to 165.6 million in 2022.