Above: my friend Guerino Pescara, vineyard manager for Ciavolich in Loreto Aprutino (Abruzzo), shared the above photo this week.

Grape harvest has begun in Italy!

Earlier this week, winemakers from Franciacorta to Sicily began picking their fruit. The focus right now is on white varieties and reds for the production of sparkling wine. The red wine harvest should begin in the next few weeks, around the same time it began last year, which was also marked by extreme heat.

Despite widespread reports of peronospora (downy mildew) in central and southern Italy, prolonged high temperatures throughout Italy, and scattered but alarming reports of hail earlier in the year in northern Italy, growers are expecting a good and in some places great harvest. Rains in late May and early June provided water to sustain the plants through harvest and alleviated concerns that 2023 would be a repeat of the 2022 drought.

Tintilia for sparkling wine at Claudio Cipressi in Molise, photo by my fellow writer Matteo Borré.

Most trade observers are predicting diminished yields, especially in areas where peronospora has been endemic. In some cases, a 40 percent drop in production is expected. But as France suprasses Italy in terms of volume, many pundits are saying that Italy needs to make less wine because of significant quantities of unsold wine that will be distilled.

Click here to see some more early harvest photos I grabbed from social media and posted on my Instagram.

Wishing a great harvest to all my friends and colleagues in Italy! Buona vendemmia!

In other news, Italy has its second Master of Wine, Andrea Lonardi, one of the country’s most prolific winemakers. Congratulations, Andrea!