Forecast from the Italian Association of Oenologists (www.assoenologi.it) that
are valid till October when final evaluations will be provided.
Forecast are based on the data received from the seventeen local branches the the associations has on the Italian territory.

 
Numbers are as follow:

Expected total wine production: 46-47 hl (+10% compared to 2014). This means in line with the 10 years production average 2005-2014.

 
Production increase distributed over the Italian regions in the
following way:
Toscana (-5%), Lombardia and Sardegna (same as in 2014), while for all the other regions the production increase goes from +5% (Emilia Romagna) to +25% (Puglia).

 
Quality wise:

Quality from good to excellent all over Italy. The good water reserves accumulated in the past year led to an interesting vegetative growth, led to a spring that favored the phenological stages. An hot summer followed (end of June till beginning of August) softened in the second half of August by beneficial rains, conditions that have established a very positive path of maturation of the grapes with the accumulation of aromatic substances and polyphenolic.

 
The vintange 2015 is then estimated by Assoenologi qualitatively very good with many excellent peaks.
Wines made from red grapes that are harvested in late September could be a vintage to remember. A hope that needs to be confirmed at the end of the harvest.

 
If the next few weeks will have days filled with sunshine and right rainfalls we will have great chances of getting fragrant white wines, with a good balance of acidity, alcohol, finesse and freshness, and harmonic red wines, rich in texture, complex bouquet and a long aging.

The Italian wine production for 2015 is estimated at around 41 million hl, -15% compared to 48.2 million for 2013 ( data from ISTAT. last year there has been a particularly abundant roduction).

The most problematic situation in the South, with Sicily (-27%) and Puglia (-25%).
Through the North of Italy the numbers goes from a -8% production in Piedmont to -17% production in Veneto.

The Centre, however, represents the happy island: Tuscany (+ 3%), Umbria (+ 10%) and Marche (+ 7%) are the only regions with a positive sign.

Despite the difficult summer we expect a good quality.
All we could do we did.
Lastly, the defoliation and thinning.

Antonio Fattori

 

• Fattori Harvest - Col de la Bastia

  http://www.cmkconsulting.eu/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/Fattori Valpolicella Harvest 29sept2014 - 3.sm.jpg

• Fattori Harvest - Col de la Bastia

  http://www.cmkconsulting.eu/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/Fattori Valpolicella Harvest 29sept2014 - 2.jpg

• Fattori Harvest - Col de la Bastia

  http://www.cmkconsulting.eu/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/Fattori Valpolicella Harvest 29sept2014 - 1.jpg

The machine of the harvest is about to start.
The first grapes have been harvested, but only the first one because it seems to be back to twenty years ago, when the real collection began in September and not at the end of August as they did for many years.

Very difficult to say how this vintage will be. The situation in Italy is patchy.
There have been a lot of rain, especially in the north.
Hailstorms have hit the north as well as the center and south of Italy. But the hail hits small areas.

So it is still too early to say how the 2014 vintage will be. If the weather in September and October will be as moderate as in the latter part of August, then the year will be good .. and in some cases excellent. If not ..

2014….stay tuned to see what happens !!

Harvest status/plan as of 29 August 2014:

Fattori – Veneto – started with PG
Montauto – South Tuscany Maremma – 1st week Sept Sauvignon, mid Sept Vermentino
Frascole – North Tuscany Rufina – not started yet
Andrea Felici – not started yet, probably will start end Sept beginning Oct
Terre del Principe – Campania – will start around 20 Sept
Vale dell’Acate – Sicily – started 20 August

Harvest time, September 12th, 2013

The Spring, particularly cold and rainy until mid-June, has favored the appearance of grapes generally sparse, in particular for the Garganega.
The following period, as usual warm, with rare water problems only in soils less deep and more exposed, has allowed a great fruit development.
Between August 20th and the end of the month came heavy rains that are favoring an excellent ripening of Garganega, Durella, Trebbiano di Soave and Sauvignon.

The same we have recommended harvesting a few days earlier for the Pinot Grigio that this year will be a little more streamlined, less alcohol and more acidic.
In general, I expect an excellent harvest, basically the opposite to 2012, with fresh wines, aromatic and good acidity.

The climate in 2013, in contrast to the norm of the past decade (long and warm summers) will allow to have good grapes even at lower hill altitudes as in the past, we will return to Garganega and Durella to harvest in September/October.