Heatwave to cut European wine output but create 'exceptional' vintage
Scorching temperatures across southern Europe are likely to curb wine production this year but could lead to an excellent vintage, producers have said.
The harvest of ripe Sangiovese grapes in Italy began in the fresh pre-dawn hours this week at the Umberto Cesari vineyards in the hills of Emilia-Romagna, near Castel San Pietro.
In the past, bunches were harvested during the day. Now the work is done semi-nocturnally to protect both the grapes and the workers, as Italy sweats through its third heatwave this summer.
“If you wanted to use a metaphor, the accordion perfectly represents the climatic trend of this 2023,” said Ilaria Cesari of Umberti Cesari Winery, describing a warm and dry winter, then cold and heavy rains, followed by a rise in temperature that caused vegetation to explode.
Though the harvest output declined this year as it did across Italy, the Sauvignon aromas are good and the early varieties such as Pinots and Chardonnay are arriving in the cellars with excellent acidity and pH values, Ms Cesari told the Sunday Telegraph.
Further south, Tuscan farmers said the high heat, excessive rain, whirlwinds and hail the region has weathered has caused a 15-20 per cent decline in the grape harvest, in line with nationwide estimates according to Federvini, the Italian Federation of Industrial Producers.
Micaela Pallini, the president of Federvini, said: “The phenomena linked to global warming are putting a strain on our territories and our businesses.”
In the Sicilian vineyards of Donnafugata, production is estimated to be around 20 per cent lower than the average, owner and winemaker Antonio Rallo told the Telegraph.
But the less compact bunches and smaller grapes in the red varieties this year are providing “optimal phenolic ripeness and an elevated concentration of tannins that are contributing to wines with good structure and good potential for longevity,” he added.
Scorching temperatures in France also could produce a vintage of “exceptional” quality, winemaker Jerome Volle said as he harvested grapes in the early hours to avoid the heat.
“This year we are on a late concentration which will raise the quality of the grapes, and therefore the cost of the wine, as the smoothness and aromas which will emerge will make a rather exceptional wine for the 2023 vintage,” Mr Volle said in his vineyard in Valvigneres in the Ardeche region.
France’s hot spell saw the mercury hit 42 degrees Celsius in the wine-growing Rhone Valley this week.
‘Avoid extreme heat exposure’
Like those in Italy, grape pickers start and end their work in the morning to avoid extreme heat exposure.
Overnight harvesting also allows to keep grapes cooler, meaning using less energy and avoiding hurting the harvest and aromas, Mr Volle said.
In Spain, winemakers paint a less rosy picture of what the savage summer sun of 2023 will do for their product.
Jaume Gramona, owner of the Gramona winery in Catalonia’s Penedés region, said: “We are talking about a survival season in which we are going to have to work miracles to make quality sparkling wines with the grapes we have, about 50 per cent of the usual production and I can’t say of the best quality.”
Mr Gramona, the sixth-generation proprietor of the family winery, said the drought being suffered by Catalonia, even more acutely than other parts of Spain, has caused tremendous stress for vines and will hit the local industry with production at barely half of usual levels.
“I won’t lie; when the vine suffers, it’s hard to make the best wine possible,” Mr Gramona told The Telegraph.
Pau Roca, director general of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine after heading Spain’s FEV wine federation for 25 years, said the impact of the succession of heatwaves across much of Spain this year would favour only a minority of regions.
“For the most part we are looking at pretty catastrophic harvests,” Mr Roca said.
