The anomalous heat of the last few weeks has led to an anticipation of the harvest in Sicily by at least a week. Of course it is too early to make estimates but according to Coldiretti and Confagricoltura there are some common elements in all regions: excellent quality of the grapes, a slight decrease in quantity production compared to last year, delay in ripening of about ten days compared to 2020. and to 2019, in which, however, a lot was anticipated compared to the average. Therefore, except in some areas of Sicily – where Chardonnay is now starting to be harvested today due to the sharp increase in temperature with the Scirocco which accelerated the ripening of the bunches in a few days – for the actual start of the harvest it is necessary to wait about ten of days.
This morning the agricultural organization led by Enrico Prandini chose the “Dei Principi di Spadafora” farm in the municipality of Monreale to celebrate the first bunch harvested and took the opportunity to announce a pre-report on the progress of Italian production with an estimated decrease of around 5/10% for a quantity between 44 and 47 million hectoliters. Despite the decrease, Italy remains the first world producer of wine this year with a challenge for second place between France and Spain which have suffered a containment of harvests, even if more marked beyond the Alps.
However, these are provisional estimates, because as Confagricoltura underlines, the great variable is the weather because “it is clear to everyone how the episodes of hail, gusts of wind and storms have intensified, affecting some territories in a devastating way, although circumscribed “. In other areas, however, it is drought that creates problems. “The situation is constantly evolving and the grapes, which in most regions are in the process of veraison, are in the crucial moment of their maturation – comments Federico Castellucci, president of the Confagricoltura Wine Federation – In a few days they can completely change the framework: the rise in temperatures accelerates the development and raises the sugar content of the berries, thus changing the state of the art and the timing of the harvest. new needs “.
What is certain, at least according to Coldiretti, is that with the progress of the anti-Covid vaccination campaign it is favoring the return to community life and the reopening of catering all over the world with exports of Italian wine recovering momentum after a year of suffering and in 2021 they recorded a jump of + 4% in value. According to the consortium for the Protection of Sicilian Doc Wines “the favorable climate of recent months and the perfect ripeness of the grapes leave us optimistic in view of the start of the harvest in Sicily, which is expected to be more generous than last year by 10-15%”. The Consortium, therefore, “looks with optimism at the new harvest, also strengthened by the positive trend of the first six months of the year which showed a substantial increase in bottling, equal to 8%, for a total of over 50 million bottles produced . The export data is also positive, with Sicilian whites which, in the first four months of the year, even recorded a + 45% in exports compared to 2020, while the reds reached + 10% ».
In the North, however, there are those who also focus on sustainability. In five years Cantina di Soave has recycled 145 tons of silicone paper for self-adhesive labels, avoiding sending the waste to the incinerator, allowing the winery to save 34.8 tons of carbon dioxide. According to director Wolfgang Raifer, “everyone must do their part to try to improve their performance and impact the environment as little as possible. In fact, it is a question of using materials and resources with intelligence ”.