In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Lucky they are not relying on my grapes then!, they are dreadful this year, small and wizened, and yet last year when it was so hot with no rain they were very good. Must have been something climatic a a crucial growth stage I guess.
A
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Apparently so...
[quote]A joint survey by ISMEA (the Italian market research and information institute) and Unione Italiana Vini (the Italian wine association) has concluded that Italy's 2008 grape harvest is likely to be 10% higher in volume than last year's.
Italy's wine drinkers are extremely faithful to domestically produced wine: the recent 2007 Italy report from IWSR shows that, of the 299m 9-litre cases of still light wine consumed in 2007, under 0.5% was imported.
The increase comes despite some heavy rains in central and northern regions in spring which led to an increase in certain pathogenic elements, which in turn means that, according to the survey, it is too early to guess at the quality of this year's harvest. Naturally, weather conditions in coming weeks will also play an important role in determining quality.
In terms of regions, the survey found that Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta, Lombardy and Liguria are likely to have lower harvests than 2007 due to the poor weather. Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto are likely to see volumes match last year, as are Umbria and Sardinia; Emilia Romagna and Tuscany are likely to see a slight increase. Growth is also expected in Lazio, Abruzzo, Puglia, Campania, Calabria, Molise and Basilicata and the strongest growth is likely to be in Marche and especially Sicily, which suffered most from drought in 2007.[/quote]
cin cin.
PS. Good luck, Phil...
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
My research assistant has finally found the piece I was looking for!
[url=http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2008-08-21_121245881.html]ANSA.it - News in English - Italian grape harvest on track[/url]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I'm in the Valle d'Aoste and the local press is saying lower quantities and quality level only 'buono'. The nets are now going up over the grapes as they ripen and change colour. I still need to increase the stock in my cantina, but after a festa 2 Saturdays ago I think I can remember which growers I'm going for, even if not the specific wines (so I'll have to taste again when I visit their cellars!)..
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Judging by the sorry state of the almost drowned vineyards in Montalcino and Montepulciano in recent days, I honestly can't believe a bumper year is scheduled for this region. Sangiovese is always picked late, it's thin skinned and vulnerable to damp induced rot. OK, the weather is due to perk up for the rest of the week but I would have thought picking is pretty imminent and the recent downpours can't have helped? Though I'm far from an expert just a very curious wait-and-see person and would be really interested if someone else knows better. V
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
If you read Philmont_Phil's latest thread here, he said that his grapes were of excellent quality but that the quantity wasn't as great as previous years.
PS What do you called the grape harvest in Italian???
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
It's [B][I]la vendemmia[/I][/B], Sally.
Nielo, I had a look at the Spanish webpages on the subject as Spain has always been the top wine producer in Europe. According to what they say, this year's crop is of great quality although many millions of kgs of grape have been lost due to frosts (Just in the Cordoba province they lost 10 million kgs). So it sounds as if Spain is going to produce in 2008 great quality wines but in smaller quantities. Perhaps this is the reason why Italy may be this year the top wine producer and their quality will also be high.
If I hear anything else, I will let you know.
So start making space in your cantina......