Italian wine production falls just under 44 million hectoliters , down 12 percent from last year’s 50 million. According to forecasts by the Assoenologi Observatory, Ismea and the Italian Wine Union (Uiv), presented today at Masaf, that 2023 could prove to be lightest harvest in 6 years, once again characterized by the now chronic effects of climate change, which, with its associated uncertain and often extreme weather patterns (+70% rainy days over the first 8 months of last year), have resulted in important quantitative differences across the Boot.
It is indeed a vineyard Italy split in half that photographed by the Observatory, with the North confirming last year’s levels (+0.8 percent), while the Center, South and Islands show declines of around 20 percent and 30 percent, respectively. Protagonist of the vintage, the Downy mildew, a fungal disease brought about by frequent rainfall that has left many vineyards, especially in the central and southern regions, no chance. However, the Observatory’s technicians reiterate how Downy mildew does not directly affect the quality of healthy grapes; in fact, the first clusters harvested destined for sparkling wine bases have good acidity levels and interesting aromatic frameworks, which give Positive oenological prospects. For the other types, weather conditions in September and October when the bulk of the harvest will take place will be decisive.
The overall volumic contraction would mean ceding the world production lead to France, whose production is estimated at around 45 million hectoliters at -2 percent over 2022. A “pure statistic,” the Observatory points out, that could prove to be more or less impactful depending on weather patterns in the coming weeks, which are crucial for bringing grapes of the later varieties in particular to optimal ripeness.
For Assoenologi President Riccardo Cotarella: “It is a very complex vintage that we are facing, characterized above all by the effects of climate change , which in late spring and early summer caused pathogenic diseases such as Downy mildew, floods, hailstorms and drought. The picture emerging from the harvest forecast shows us a rather significant drop in grape production, especially where vines have been repeatedly attacked by the disease. On the quality front, the issue is more complex. From the 2023 vintage we will certainly obtain wines of good quality, with peaks of excellence. Much,” concluded the president of Assoenologi, “will depend on the work, starting with that of the winemakers, performed in the vineyard and in the cellar. It is precisely in such strange years that all technical and scientific knowledge must be brought to bear to mitigate the damage of an increasingly crazy climate.”
“This year’s production contraction should not be an element of concern, given the high level of inventories, which exceeded 49 million hectoliters, positioning itself as the highest figure in the last six years,” commented Ismea Extraordinary Commissioner Livio Proietti. The issue is not so much the loss of Italy’s leadership in terms of volumes produced, but rather the slowdown in domestic and foreign demand, which is depressing prices especially for table wines and IGTs. We need to work to reduce the value gap between us and France and to strengthen the competitive positioning of quality wines, making sure that even ordinary wines are increasingly characterized compared to competitors.”
For Italian Wine Union president Lamberto Frescobaldi, “We can no longer afford to produce 50 million hectoliters as we have in recent vintages, and it cannot be a fungal disease that will rebalance a situation that has recently led to the record inventory of recent years. It is surprising, in this regard, how many still worry about remaining holders of a productive scepter that no one needs anymore: medium- and long-term policy choices in favor of quality and structural reform of the sector are now more important than ever. Priorities include finally closing the sustainability decree and modernizing the average Italian vineyard, which is old, difficult to mechanize and expensive to manage. We also need to overhaul the criteria for “sprinkling” approval of new vineyards based on appellation performance, as well as reduce yields of generic wines and review the PDO and PGI system, including their market management. These are the tools to enable Italian wine to make the qualitative leap needed to address both the cyclical situation of markets and structural changes in demand and consumption habits. Finally,” Frescobaldi concluded, “it will be necessary to shift gears on the commercial level, starting with the simplification of the Promotion CMO and a flagship promotion capable of involving companies from the planning stage.
Speaking in more general terms about the wine sector, Sergio Marchi, of the Masaf Technical Secretariat, said that on behalf of the government there is maximum support for the sector because wine is important for GDP, both for domestic product and export, and is a symbolic brand of Italy. He then reiterated the government’s stance toward labeling and the topic of wine and health. The government’s moves will continue to be to combat counterfeiting and Italian sounding. Finally, he added that the government will sit at the table with the regions to bargain for plant diseases that have been incidents again this year, quantitatively rather than qualitatively.
Vineyard Geography Italy 2023
Although the peculiarity of the season does not allow for homogeneous forecasts even in the same area, this year it can still be said that, even with due distinctions, the North has held up decidedly well, basically confirming last year’s levels. Going down to the Center, declines average more than 20 percent, while in the South and the Islands, reductions of 30 percent are near. An overall picture,” cites the Observatory’s report, also produced with monitoring by the Ministry of Agriculture and the regions, “in which some additional difficulties were found for organic production.
In the Northwest, there is animportant recovery in Lombardy, followed by a more moderate one in Liguria and Valle d’Aosta, with Piedmont holding up substantially. The Northeast is driven by the locomotive Veneto, despite everything slightly up from last year thanks in part to the entry of new plants into production. Trentino-Alto Adige does not deviate much from last year’s levels, while Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Emilia-Romagna lose a few percentage points. More homogeneous is the situation in the Center-South characterized by declines ranging from 20 up to 45 percent, with harvests expected to be much more scarce especially on the Adriatic ridge (Marche, Umbria, Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia, Calabria, Basilicata) but also in Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Sicily and Sardinia.
Climatic and vegetative trends (detail in the attached report)
The abundant and frequent spring rainfall created favorable conditions for the outbreak of vine diseases and especially Downy mildew, which did not spare many vineyards especially in the South Central. The continuous rains, in fact, in many cases prevented them from entering the vineyard to do treatments and in others thwarted their effects. Add to this other diseases such as Powdery mildew and Golden Flavescence, as well as hail and other adverse weather events during the summer, and the picture of the viticultural situation is colored in less than brilliant hues for production as a whole, but especially for organic ones.
A year with crazy weather that once again highlighted how the great professional technical potential allows companies that have relied on the technique and science of the many winemakers and viticultural technicians to achieve quality in line with the average of recent vintages.
