"You never turn your back on challenges." - This quote from Wladimir Klitschko is the best way to describe the commitment and the results achieved by our winegrowers in 2023, which was not always an easy year. The 2023 grape harvest in Italy and elsewhere in the world showed that farmers, and winegrowers in particular, face considerable challenges in times of climate change.
The more frequent rainfall and, in some cases, intense hailstorms caused major harvest losses in some regions of Italy in the 2023 wine year. Overall, the harvest volume was just under 40 million hectolitres, around 20 per cent lower than last year. The country's southern wine 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.
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.
To better categorise the sometimes dramatic-sounding declines in yield, we would like to conclude by quoting from the trade magazine MERUM: "At this point, we would like to expressly emphasise 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."
As usual, you can find further details and assessments from some of our winemakers from Italy's most important wine regions on our website. We are currently receiving new wines from this turbulent but exciting 2023 vintage almost every day - we hope you enjoy browsing and savouring them. SUPERIORE.DE
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