Italy is the world's leading wine producer. This is certified by the harvest estimates presented by Assoenologists, Ismea and Unione Italiana Vini: the result is down by 16% compared to the record year of 2018, but national production will still reach 46 million hectoliters (last year it was close to 55 million hectoliters). The estimate, as usual, results from the average between a minimum hypothesis of 45 million hectoliters and a maximum of over 47 million, in any case lower than the average of the last 5 years.
Experts point out among other things that this year's harvest would seem to turn out lower than the previous one in all Italian regions, with a particularly marked drop in Lombardy (-30%), in Emilia Romagna and Sicily (-20% for both), while it follows the average -16% in Veneto and Puglia, respectively first and second region by volume. The slowdown in Trentino and Piedmont is more contained, while the only exception is Tuscany, which actually grows by 10%. The greatest losses are counted on the early grapes, while for the later ones the evolution of production will be linked to the weather trend in September.
But despite an apparently less generous harvest, according to Italy's forecasts in any case, it will confirm its global leadership also in 2019, given that in France the expected production is 43,4 million hectoliters (Agriculture Ministry estimate as at 19 August) and in Spain it shouldn't go beyond 40 million (Agriculture Ministry figure).
A primacy also supported by growth of Made in Italy wine exports, which register an increase of 5,4% this year compared to last year, when they had reached the record figure of 6,2 billion euros on an annual basis, making wine the first item of national agri-food exports.
In detail, approximately 70% of the production of this vintage will be destined to Docg, Doc and Igt wines, with 332 wines with controlled denomination of origin (Doc), 73 wines with controlled and guaranteed denomination of origin (Docg), and 118 wines with typical geographical indication (IGT) recognized in Italy and the remaining 30 percent for table wines. On the national territory, Coldiretti noted, there are 567 varieties registered in the vine register against the 278 of the French cousins, demonstrating the rich heritage of biodiversity on which Italy can count.
“In Italy the current conditions – explained Coldiretti – bode well for one vintage of good/excellent quality even if the trend of the harvest will depend a lot on the rest of the month of September and October to confirm the forecasts also in terms of quantity, also because at the moment just 15% of the grapes are already in the cellar against 40% last year. The climatic anomalies of 2019 are conditioning, the heat and drought in the first spring months were followed by copious rainfall, combined with a significant drop in temperatures for most of the month of May, while in the hot summer there were patchy violent waves of bad weather”.
