Italian 2016 harvest boosted by the quality of early grapes picked as hopes are raised for overall vintage
As we move closer to the main Italian wine harvest, VINEX is able to share the insights of Giuseppe Bivona, the bulk wine sales representative of one of its key Italian members, Cantine Settesoli.
He is now in a position to be able to give a breakdown of the size of production and the quality of 2016 vintage in all the main wine producing regions of Italy.
Overall he estimates the 2016 harvest will be close to the 49 million hl achieved in 2015, but will still be down around 10 % on the average production for the last five years.
Here are Cantine Settesoli’s predictions for production levels for each of the main wine producing regions, depending on how the weather behaves over the coming weeks. They are:
• Emilia Romagna: Up 5/10 %
• Veneto: Down 5 %
• Trentino and Alto Adige: Down 5/10 %
• Abruzzo: Up 5 %
• Puglia: Up 10 %
• Tuscany: Down 5/10 %
• Piedmont: Same as 2015
• Sicily: Down 15/20 %
• Friuli Venezia Giulia: Up 5 %
• Lazio, Umbria and Marche: Down 5/10 %
• Campania, Piedmont and Sardinia: On course for the same as 2015 harvest.
Veneto with 9.3 million hl is expected to be again the biggest producing Italian region, followed by Puglia (8.7) and Emilia Romagna (8.1). These three together account for 53 % of all Italian wine.
The harvest is still very much in its early days with only 10% of the total harvest having being picked by the end of last week. The first grapes to have come in includePinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, particularly in the warmer regions such as Sicily and Puglia.
In general the harvest is likely to be up to 10 days late on average in most regions.
The main harvest is expected to get under way at the end of September and it will carry on to late October/early November with the late ripening grapes such as Nebbiolo, Cabernet and Aglianico of Taurasi will come to the cellars.
Overall the 2016 harvest is generally expected to be of good quality. Particularly in light of the good quality of grapes that have already been picked in Sicily, which has already completed the harvests of Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay and is well on the way of bringing in Viognier, Merlot, Syrah, Vermentino, Grillo and other varieties. All of which are showing good quality.
The reasons for the good quality 2016 harvest
Giuseppe Bivona of Cantine Settesoli says the good quality harvest is largely down to the mild winter most of Italy enjoyed with little rainfall (289mm rainfall this year, compared to 436mm from September to January last year).
This was followed in February and March with “abundant” levels of rain which enabled the soils to take in a good level of water supply. April and May then had very limited amount of rain.
In June temperatures were scorching, says Bivona followed by intermittent rain in July and beginning of August, but overall thermal conditions meant it was an excellent period for polyphenolic ripening and building up the aromatic flavour in the grapes.
Much will now depend on how the weather behaves for the rest of September and October.
The market for bulk wine still “remains blocked and thoughtful without any special offers and demands by the main actors” says Bivona. He adds: “They are waiting to share information about quantity, quality, yields and consumption when most of the grapes are harvested, so that they can come up with real quotations and prices.”