From the island of Ischia off the Neapolitan coast to the Alpine valleys of German-speaking Alto Adige, the red thread that emerged on my recent month-long trip to Italy was that il tempo è impazzito — the weather has gone crazy.

In Turin, I witnessed the most violent and rapid-forming hailstorm I’ve ever encountered, with golf ball-sized stones that were so abundant they looked like a foot of snow — in May!

Even with the sun shining above, an outdoor event I was presenting in Turin was shifted indoors because the weather was so unpredictable (thank goodness because that hail storm arrived later that day).

In Ischia, the cab drivers and restaurateurs all lamented that tourism was down because of too much rain that scared away the beachgoers (it rained twice over the four days we were there).

But it was the grape growers who seemed the most forlorn and exasperated.

The 2024 vintage will be remembered for its early starts and stops.

Unusually warm weather in early spring cause the plants — across Italy — to jump start their vegetative cycles.

But the cool weather and rain that followed, with a repeated succession of cool and warm weather, has caused alarming unevenness in the vineyards.

Repeated rain has nearly exhausted organic farmers’ budgets for holistic treatments: when you spray and then it rains, you have to start over from scratch and spray again.

And then of course, there’s the catastrophic hail damage that has made its way like a checkerboard across the country. Some will be fine, others not as fortunate. It’s become a sort of Russian roulette for vineyard managers.

And now that warm weather has taken hold for the summer, growers in some regions are telling me that they are terrified of what could be a serious drought.

Whenever vintage comes into discussion, it’s important to remember that it ain’t over until it’s over. Remember the 2022 vintage?

I’m in contact every day with Italian winemakers and I’ll continue to share their notes here. In the meantime, let’s pray.