Vintage 2023

The year 2023 was characterised by the effects of climate change. More frequent rainfall and, in some cases, intense hailstorms led to major harvest losses in some regions of Italy. Overall, this year's harvest volume is just under 40 million hectolitres, around 20 per cent less than last year. The country's southern wine-growing regions recorded particularly sharp declines. But there is also good news: Many of the white wine grapes have a good acidity and an interesting aroma, so many winegrowers are expecting lower quantities and rising prices, but consistently high, if not better, quality.

Falling harvest volumes in almost all regions

In the high-yielding north, the grape harvest went largely smoothly, while in the centre and especially in the south of the country, downy mildew caused significant and sometimes dramatic losses. The decline in production affected almost all Italian wine-growing regions, but above all the most important and largest producing regions. Ten per cent less was harvested in Veneto and 17 per cent less in Piedmont. Tuscany (-30 per cent), Puglia (-30 per cent), Abruzzo (-60 per cent) and Sicily (-45 per cent) also recorded significant losses. According to the Assoenologi, Ismea and UIV associations, the further decline is mainly due to the high temperatures in September, which persisted throughout the month. The heat and lack of rain had a positive effect on the quality of the grapes, but also led to a significantly lower harvest volume. Riccardo Cotarella, President of Assoenologi, says: "It is precisely in such extreme vintages that we have to use all our technical and scientific knowledge to minimise the damage caused by an increasingly crazy climate."

Detailed view of the regions

The harvest of the grapes for the 2023 vintage marks the end of a winegrowing year for South Tyrol's winegrowers that demanded everything from them in the vineyard: with an initially extremely dry, then cool and rainy spring, a humid summer with three heatwaves and a golden autumn. This also allowed the later red wine varieties to ripen well. And the experts expect fresh, fruity, lean wines from the whites. The wet weather in particular has given South Tyrolean winegrowers an enormous amount of extra work in the vineyards. "The amount of rain was not exceptional, but it was always wet," says Barbara Raifer, Head of the Viticulture Department at the Laimburg Research Centre, referring to the high fungal pressure that came with it. "Attention was never allowed to slacken, you had to stay behind to prevent damage," explains Markus Prackwieser from Gump Hof in Völs. "Hand-picking makes it possible to select very carefully in South Tyrol and only bring excellent harvestinto the cellar. We expect a cool, fresh and juicy vintage, i.e. light, Alpine wines, which is what the market expects from South Tyrol."

Costantino Charrère from Les Crêtes in the Aosta Valley was generally very satisfied with the results: "We expect a comparable quantity of grapes to the last harvest. We have started harvesting healthy grapes of excellent quality, which are the result of a more even season with average rainfall. We had two heat peaks, a few days at the end of July and after mid-August, followed by days with below-average temperatures, these heat peaks are now the reality and the issue of water is also becoming more and more evident for us."

In Lombardy, which had suffered particularly badly from the drought in 2022, growth of 15 per cent ensured satisfaction. In most areas, grapes ripened ten to twelve days later than in the previous year. The cold, rainy May caused problems with peronospora, particularly in many organically farmed vineyards. In Oltrepò Pavese, on the other hand, there was less rainfall than in the rest of the region and there were more problems with powdery mildew(Oidium) than with Peronospora. The situation on Lake Garda was unpleasant, with hailstorms at various stages of vegetation causing significant harvest losses, especially in the Lugana DOC, which is likely to lead to further price increases for the Germans' favourite white wine.

"In Emilia Romagna, the year 2023 will go down in history as a black year. After an extremely dry winter, people were still extremely concerned about the low level of the Po and the resulting scarcity of water reserves, but the torrential rainfall on 3, 17 and 18 May caused catastrophic flooding in the plain and numerous landslides in the hills. In some areas, as much rain fell in May as normally falls in an entire year, 500 per cent more than the May average of the past twenty years. The structural, economic damage is enormous, even if the total harvest in the region is only five per cent lower than last year. In Friuli, on the other hand, the month of July was problematic, with two periods of bad weather causing widespread hail damage, which is reflected in the harvest forecasts with a ten per cent loss in production." Merum

Although around 17% fewer grapes were harvested on average in Piedmont, the quality will probably be above average. Pio Cesare is therefore very satisfied: "After the drought in the previous year, the abundant rainfall in spring 2023 restored the moisture and structure of the soil in our vineyards, which were very well prepared by our team to absorb the rainfall. Even after a mild summer with occasional temperature peaks, our plants were able to complete their vegetative cycle without stress, with excellent results in terms of both quantity and quality."

"In Tuscany, the estimates for the individual origins vary widely. Brunello di Montalcino expects a small decline of five per cent, Chianti Classico will probably lose between 10 and 15 per cent and Bolgheri 20 per cent. Rainfall and low temperatures in spring led to increased irrigation, which had a negative impact on yields (up to -20 per cent). In addition, an increase in the vine disease Esca and the American vine blight, which is responsible for the transmission of golden yellowing, are also reported here.

In Umbria, late frosts in April and downy mildew after the rainy May and June caused problems for the Sagrantino in particular, reducing the harvest forecast for the region by 20 per cent compared to 2022. In the white grape varieties, good acidity levels and rich flavours are hoped for thanks to high temperature fluctuations. In the Marche region, the amount of precipitation was already well above the historical average in winter, which continued in May, which was also rainy here. With a regional average of 192 millimetres, the rainfall was the heaviest since 1961, and the subsequent peronospora infestation across the entire region resulted in production losses of 25 per cent, with the Montepulciano, Passerina and Chardonnay varieties particularly affected. In Lazio, too, the rains in May and June compromised the health of the vines due to Peronospora, resulting in a 20 per cent drop in production compared to the previous year.

The regions of the south were firmly in the grip of peronospora in 2023 and suffered considerable crop losses in some cases. Abruzzo was hit particularly hard. It rained almost continuously in April, May and June. Two out of three days in spring were rainy, and temperatures were well below average until the end of June. Montepulciano was particularly affected by the high infection pressure from Peronospora, less so the white varieties. The Assoenologi harvest forecast speaks of a 40 per cent drop in production.

The picture is almost identical in the small neighbouring region of Molise, where the lower, coastal areas in particular were hit by peronospora attacks and 45% of the harvest was lost. The 2023 wine year was not a good one for the Campania region either. From the beginning of May to mid-June, it rained almost continuously, with 39 out of 45 days being rainy days, the wettest spring in 15 years. The harvest was 30 per cent lower due to downy mildew.

In Apulia, four times as much rain fell in May and June as in the same period last year. Both powdery and downy mildew compromised the health of the vines and caused harvest losses of 25 per cent. In Basilicata there were harvest losses, especially on Monte Vulture. Here, it is customary to work the soil deeply in the spring in anticipation of the summer drought in order to facilitate the absorption and storage of water. However, this made it difficult to access the vineyards, which were soaked and muddy from all the rain, and thus to take effective measures against peronospora, resulting in a 30 per cent loss.

2023 was also one of the most difficult years in a long time for Sicily's winegrowers. More than 150 millimetres of rainfall and gale-force winds during the vine blossom affected the indigenous varieties in particular. There was also isolated damage caused by the record heat in July with temperatures of up to 42 degrees. And Sardinia was hit by heavy rainfall from mid-May, with temperatures well below average. As a result, downy mildew was also rampant there. The heat in July, on the other hand, caused leaf drop and sunburn on the grapes, especially in unirrigated vineyards. However, at 20 per cent, the harvest losses were lower than in the southern Italian mainland regions.

Finally, it should be emphasised once again that the harvest forecasts are primarily to be understood as economic data and do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about wine quality. The loss of harvest volume says nothing about what kind of wine a winegrower makes from the remaining, healthy grapes. Some winemakers are at their best under difficult conditions." Merum

New wines from the turbulent and no less exciting 2023 vintage reach us every day, we hope you enjoy browsing and savouring them! SUPERIORE.DE