First exclusive DOC Pinot Grigio harvest sees yields up by 20%
The first Pinot Grigio DOC harvest has drawn to a close, and is being heralded for its "healthy, high quality grapes" with yields up by a fifth.
"It is our first exclusively DOC Pinot Grigio harvest which we are celebrating with very good overall quality and a management of the production potential by the Consortium which will help us win trust and serenity in the markets", said the President of the Consorzio DOC delle Venezie, Albino Armani.
Some sub-regions saw yields rise by as much as 30%, which the DOC's administrative body said is in line with trends seen across Europe.
A favourable climate had allowed the vineyards to reach a state of “good health” resulting in the right gradation of sweetness and balanced acidity levels in the grapes, he added, with the good weather gracing the Tri-Veneto area during the grape harvest having brought a healthy product to the cellars promising “a very interesting vintage”, said the consortium, which was formed to protect, promote and enhance Pinot Grigio.
More than 130 million bottles of Pinot Grigio now enjoy DOC status with the production zone now expecting "zero stock" before the end of December 2018.
"The Pinot Grigio has given the best of itself this year," Armani said, "managing to combine colour, acidity and PH at maximum levels with generous quantities on the vine which allows us to best approach the second year of sales of this young denomination.
"We were able to make use of a series of tools - management of the potential foreseen by procedures, control systems and the activation of measures such as storage - which offer the conditions to both the Industry and the Consortium for the coherent management of the volume of the product obtained from the newly finished grape harvest in order to guarantee a climate of 'commercial serenity', avoiding the risks of marked fluctuation of prices for the improvement and stabilisation of market dynamics."
As a precautionary measure against a harvest, which was forecast as being generous, the consortium asked for storage space (for a defined quota equal to 20% of the predicted production) from the Autonomous Province of Trento and the Regions of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Veneto last July in order to control the supply of product to market.