French, Italian winegrowers face earliest ever harvest

OLIVA GESSI, Italy: Scorching summer temperatures have disrupted life for millions of Europeans but for winegrowers in Italy and France, who are harvesting their grapes unusually early, the hot weather offers pros as well as cons.

In Oltrepo Pavese, a winegrowing region in northern Italy, the harvest was in full swing in the final days of July, a first.

The same phenomenon is also affecting winegrowing areas of southern France.

“This year is historic because the grapes have never been harvested in July before,” said Matteo Castellani, head of the Coldiretti farming union for Casteggio, south of Pavia.

“We started the harvest at the beginning of the week, on July 27 and 28, and that’s a record.

“In Oltrepo Pavese, like elsewhere in general, the harvest usually begins between August 10 and 15,” Castellani told AFP.

Under a blazing sun, farm workers delicately detach bunches of Pinot Noir from rows of vines at the Defilippi – I Gessi estate.

“Recent months have seen abnormal heat – a symptom of climate change which, sadly, farmers and the entire sector must now take into account,” said Castellani.

Coldiretti forecasts the harvest for Sangiovese grapes, Italy’s most common variety, could begin as early as mid-August in Tuscany.

The grapes are usually picked between September and November.

For Italy’s top agricultural union, predicting the quality of a harvest that will be spread over almost five months is a real oenological challenge for wineries – not least owing to the concentration of sugars which record temperatures and drought induce in the grapes.

For now, “maturation … is perfect” and “the alcohol content optimal”, said winemaker and estate owner Federico De Filippi, three days into harvesting.

But he warned that if the high temperatures continued they could increase the grapes’ alcohol content, thereby forcing harvesting to be accelerated.