Comments on the 2024 vintage estimates from Riccardo Cotarella president Assoenologi, Livio Proietti president ISMEA, Lamberto Frescobaldi president UIV and Gaya Ducceschi Head of Wine & Society and Communication CEEV.
They were presented today in Ortigia (SR), as part of the Expo Divination on the occasion of the G7 Agriculture, the 2024 vintage estimates of the Observatory Assoenologi, Ismea and Italian Wine Union (UIV). These are the comments of the protagonists
Riccardo Cotarella president Assoenologi:
“This 2024 vintage was one of the most challenging harvests I can remember in my now long experience as a winemaker.
A vintage conditioned in an important way by significant weather transversality that tested Italian winemakers from the north to the south of the country.
In particular, this year’s harvest was part of an extreme weather pattern, characterized by climatic instability that inevitably affected grape production. Earlier varieties, in some areas, were harvested with lower yields and a quality marked by adverse weather conditions, while later varieties suffered delays or advances in ripening, with a significant impact on the sugar and acid balance of the grapes themselves.
However, despite the difficulties, what emerges as a determining factor in the final quality of the wines is precisely the work of the winemakers. Never more than this year, winemakers were called upon to demonstrate their scientific expertise and technical knowledge to better manage both vineyard and winery management.
In the field, we had to adopt precise strategies to optimize the use of water resources, monitor the health of the plants and decide the exact time of harvest to obtain grapes at their maximum potential.
In the winery, work has been crucial to enhance the raw material, working precisely to compensate for imbalances created by weather conditions.”
Livio Proietti president ISMEA
“This year’s harvest estimates give us back a complex picture, but at the same time they allow us to focus on some actions to be put in place.
Certainly, it is necessary to continue to counter the effects of climate change with technologies and innovations also aimed at adapting to the new context, which in any case will require more and more knowledge and technical preparation of those who work in the vineyard, working to maintain the strong appeal that work in the vineyard and cellar has had so far for young people.
Attracting the younger generations is the purpose of specific courses of study, capable of grasping current trends adequately in advance and using technology to the best advantage by enhancing wine to preserve and enhance its culture.
In this direction ISMEA intervenes with specific measures to support young people and women, such as Più Impresa and Generazione Terra. Then there is the issue of the continuous changes in consumption patterns that needs to be manned and requires adequate and captivating storytelling that also touches on the theme of responsible consumption, for a real qualitative leap in the sector.”
Lamberto Frescobaldi president Italian Wine Union
“We need an ‘accordion’ Italy vineyard, made more manageable and flexible by intervention tools that can buffer the issue of surpluses and, as far as possible, make poor vintages less traumatic.
The grubbings, which are talked about in Europe, do not solve the Italian situation: to understand their effects, it is enough to remember what happened 13 years ago, when, in the face of a public expenditure of about 300 million euros and 30,000 hectares uprooted mainly in the hills and in Doc areas, we found ourselves two years later with a record 53 million hectoliters vintage.
For Uiv, explantations in themselves represent a social risk, because they impact entire economies in vocated hillside areas-and we know that vineyards in the hills also mean land management, prevention from landslides and fires-but funded vineyard cuts that take resources away from growth are worse than hail under harvest.
The sector is going through a complicated season-no use getting around it, even if Italy is doing better than its competitors-but that is no reason to think about diverting strategic funds to incentivize grubbing-up. The overwhelming majority of our companies,” Frescobaldi concluded, “are healthy and need to innovate, promote themselves, and tune in to a rapidly changing market; that is why the High Level Group’s EU table needs to focus more on supporting those who want to stay in the business than incentivizing those who want to leave.
Gaya Ducceschi, Head of Wine & Society and Communication of the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (the association representing European wineries in the wine industry and trade)
“The long-term structural decline in consumption, especially in traditional markets, is at the heart of the industry’s current crisis.
While the global market for spirits and low- or zero-alcohol products is growing, wine consumption continues to decline.
EU support should focus on improving competitiveness, reducing costs and facilitating access to new consumers.
In this regard, together with the European wine supply chain, we are about to launch across Europe VITÆVINO, a campaign to defend our sector, to protect wine as part of a healthy and balanced lifestyle, highlighting its cultural and socio-economic role. The campaign will focus on generating broad public support through collective engagement, encouraging citizens, consumers and the global wine community to sign a Declaration that upholds the role of wine in society and defends its cultural heritage.” In the opening photo, from left: Paolo Castelletti (Uiv secretary), Lamberto Frescobaldi (Uiv president), Francesco Lollobrigida (Masaf minister), Riccardo Cotarella (Assoenologi president), Livio Proietti (ISMEA president)
