“Friuli-Venezia Giulia to ration water,” read the headline of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia regional edition of the Italian national daily Il Messaggero on Saturday when I arrived in the region (see below).

“It hasn’t rained for months,” said winemaker Germano Zorzettig when he and I sat down to chat after the COF2012 bloggers went to bed last night (we’re all staying at his gorgeous Corte San Biagio agriturismo in Corno di Rosazza (province of Udine). “We haven’t seen anything like this in years.”

Rain is expected (and hoped for) here on Tuesday but the situation is weighing heavily on grape growers and winemakers here (and throughout Italy).

With the early arrival of warm temperatures, flowers are  beginning to bloom and the vegetative cycle of the vines has already been set into motion. The current drought, combined with fears of an late spring frost that could stymie the vegetative cycle (with disastrous results), is causing a loss of sleep among the Friulian winery owners that we’ve spoken to so far.

Fingers crossed for rain on Tuesday! We’ll be here…

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