The 2022 harvest in Piedmont: “4 and a half stars” quality and 2.26 million hectoliters produced

Record temperatures and prolonged drought even in the summer had led to fears of the worst for the grape harvest in Piedmont. Official data, however, show a very different situation: wine production is just below 2021, 2.26 million hectoliters compared to the 2.3 produced the year before. The other surprise is that 2022 is a vintage that approaches qualitative excellence and deserves “four and a half stars”. Piedmont ranks as the second region nationwide in terms of turnover impact with a turnover for the wine sector of 1.235 million euros. This is the analysis made by oenologists and agronomists in Piedmont’s “Anteprima Vendemmia 2022”, the annual publication edited by Vignaioli Piemontesi and the Piedmont Region in which they analyze technical data and evaluations of the harvest just past and the general economic performance of the wine sector. It is a work that Vignaioli Piemontesi has been carrying out for more than thirty years, since 1992, meticulously collecting regional data on grape ripening and climatic trends in various wine-growing areas of Piedmont and carrying out coordinating activity of all the viticultural and agronomic technicians present in the territory.
A 2022 wine year that is therefore ranked between excellent and very good, despite critical climatic conditions due to one of the driest seasons in Piedmont’s history and an early and very hot summer with no rain. Piedmont Region Agriculture Councillor Marco Protopapa speaks of a “viticultural miracle” and urges the sector “to deepen its knowledge of the physiological mechanisms of vine adaptation to water and thermal stresses. The biggest question is about next year’s production levels, especially for those vineyards that were already suffering from last season. Indeed, we cannot fail to consider as a critical factor an accumulation of reserves that was certainly reduced to a minimum. We will see if the resilience of this extraordinary plant will be able to remedy this aspect as well”. He adds, “the Piedmont Region supports the wine sector by activating all the tools at its disposal, starting with the measures of the CMO in favor of investments and restructuring of farms; and in favor of the promotion of wines in non-EU markets; continuing with the measures of the Rural Development Program for contributions aimed at investments in farms, young farmers, investments for the processing and marketing of agricultural products; for the support of information and promotion activities in favor of quality productions. I believe it is essential to support our winemakers and protection consortia in order to meet the challenges caused by climate change, strengthen the positioning of Piedmont’s quality wines in the markets, protect the landscape heritage and enhance the entire production territory”.
Davide Viglino, director of Vignaioli Piemontesi, recalls the importance of Appellation wines: “most of the 2022 production is claimed as PDO, as wine with a Denomination of Origin: it is 2.08 million hectoliters or 92%. Piedmont’s bet is to transform the quality of grapes into quality wines”.