The WineNews TV interview on the 2024 harvest in Italy with Carlo Miravalle, owner of Miravalle 1926 and president of the Med.&.A. association.
Question: Italy’s wine industry has entered the grape harvest and one wonders what it will be like. Estimates predict a more abundant harvest compared to last year’s disastrous one. What will happen to the bulk market?
Answer: The first indications at the end of August, gathered among producers and bottlers in regions where the harvest has already begun, are general indications as it has happened over the years that the climatic factor has meant that the indications for this period have been disregarded over the following weeks.
What I can say with certainty is that here in Italy in the centre and south we have a harvest that is 10 to 15 days earlier than normal.
We know that Sicily began harvesting early grapes already shortly after mid-July, and today the Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay have already been almost all harvested apart from in Trentino, Veneto and part of the Oltrepò Pavese, especially the Chardonnay.
Unfortunately, we must note that in the south, although the quantities are higher than in last year’s harvest that was ravaged by downy mildew, they are certainly higher but not as expected. The great heat is now causing a lower yield of must, the bunches are smaller, and in Puglia, for example, following a decree law, irrigation is no longer allowed, which is causing a drop in the yield of must quantities.
Grape yields are within the norm, the grapes are healthy, since given last year’s experience, treatments were done in good time so as not to be surprised by disease.
In Emilia Romagna, as far as early grapes are concerned, the harvest is almost over for Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio. The information I have says that the quantities here are good, but for example in Abruzzo and also a little in Puglia the quantities are low compared to expectations.
We will be getting ready in the next few days, therefore in advance, to start the harvest of white grapes and red grapes, but we will return to this subject in a later comment.
Question: But the prices at this stage, with a trend that suggests a reduction in the quantities produced, to be contextualised in a market phase that is not dramatic but does not shine in terms of consumption, suggests some tension on prices and that things will not change much compared to what we have seen in recent months … what is the direction?
Answer: First of all, we have to consider the current very complicated economic and geopolitical context, and I therefore note much more caution on the part of operators than in previous years. There is almost none of the speculation of previous years, but people are buying the minimum necessary with much more targeted purchases for rather rapid withdrawals.
In general, prices should be more competitive compared to last year’s very poor harvest, and reality is proving it; grape prices are slowly falling in Abruzzo and especially in Puglia. It should therefore be possible to buy at better prices.
We must not forget that we are coming into the harvest with very large stocks, so even if the quantity, in the red grape department for example, will be a little lower than expected, this will not create price tensions on the market.