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Italian Grape Harvest Gives Cause for Celebration ... Italy’s growers breathe a sigh of relief as the weather ensures a good harvest so far. Italian producers and growers are optimistic about the 2015 harvest, after a fine summer ensured the disaster of last year was not repeated.
Bad weather saw a much-reduced harvest in 2014, both in terms of quantity and quality, but this year’s glorious summer weather has put smiles back on growers’ faces, according to Italy’s Wine News website.
While the red harvest is just beginning, the whites are all but picked and, despite a slightly lower-than-average acidity, producers are bullish about the quality. “The harvest is going great, and whites are exceptional,” Barbera d’Albaproducer Pio Cesare’s Pio Boffa said. “We are confident that the Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo will also be good. The analytical data is very good, only the quantity is likely to be a little lower.”
The season was a hot one, but the grapes, in most cases, have reacted well to the high temperatures, thanks to abundant reserves of water accumulated in winter and spring. The vines had no particular difficulties, despite a small drop in acid levels giving a more tropical style of wine.
The red harvest for 2015 has already started and Barolo’s Paolo Damilano said the Nebbiolo grapes were looking good. “We have very high expectations.”
In Veneto, Amarone producer Sabrina Tedeschi said the harvest was going smoothly.
“We are optimistic about the quality of the grapes; the harvest is going very well and we still have two weeks of work. But we like to talk in more detail the outcome of quality wines when they are ready. However we are happy. Picking is much simpler than in 2014, even if the heat required careful management of the vineyards,” she said, adding that yields were likely to be 10 percent greater than last year.
In Trentino the white vintage was over and picking of the the red harvest was under way.
“The grapes are very beautiful and very healthy,” said Anselmo Guerrieri Gonzaga of the boutique winery Tenuta San Leonardo. “The quantity is very good. For now we can say that whites have balanced acidity and good maturity, and may also be suitable for long aging. It is a very good harvest, but to judge the year you have to wait.”
In Tuscany, things are also looking promising. Jacopo Biondi Santi, owner of Tenuta Greppo, said: “The vineyards are spectacular and the grapes are beautiful. If weather conditions remain so, it will be a year to remember. That said, however, definitive judgments will have to wait until all the grapes in the cellar and fermentation is finished.”
Enrico Viglierchio, of Castello Banfi, said early signs suggested that the Sangiovese was looking good.
“The grapes are healthy and well matured and yierlds are about average. There really are all the prerequisites for great quality wines.”
Sergio Zingarelli, president of the Chianti Classico consorzio and owner of Rocca delle Macie, was also enthusiastic. "The grapes are beautiful and we are very happy. Of course we are keeping our fingers crossed. Maybe there will be a bit less quantity, but the quality should be that of a great vintage.”

This story originally appeared on Italy’s WineNews website.