THE HARVEST IN SOUTH TYROL HAS STARTED

With the collection of the base wines for the production of sparkling wines, the harvest has begun in South Tyrol in these days. After the exceptionally early start of last year's grape harvest, this year we have returned largely to the average. The summer in the vineyards, however, was humid and therefore more difficult. “ Let's hope for a couple of sunny and dry weeks before the actual harvest begins ,” says Andreas Kofler, president of the Consorzio Vini Alto Adige. Compared to last year, this year the start of the harvest in the valleys has moved forward by about five days, while the harvest of the grapes in the higher areas by even a period between ten and fourteen days. It starts with the bunches for sparkling wines (in Alto Adige Pinot Bianco and Nero as well as Chardonnay), traditionally harvested a few weeks before the general harvest. “ The reason for this early start is that the base wines for the production of sparkling wines need more acids and less sugar, so that they can then ferment a second time in the bottle with the addition of sugar ”, explains Kofler. Especially for the weeks preceding the actual harvest, the president of the Consorzio Vini Alto Adige hopes that the climatic conditions will not hold bad surprises, as happened during the summer. Even if, at least so far, there have been no heavy hailstorms, Kofler nevertheless expresses a wish on the weather until the end of the harvest: “ Low rainfall, cool nights and sunny days would be ideal ”. A perfectly understandable desire considering the persistent humidity especially in July, but also in August, which caused the winemakers a whole series of problems, first of all the high presence of fungi among the vines. “ Fortunately, our growers are well trained and the advice works at the highest level. This makes it possible to keep the situation under control even in the presence of problematic weather conditions ”, underlines the president of the Consortium also in consideration of the spread of downy mildew, which in other growing areas in Italy has caused massive crop losses. This year, in South Tyrol, the high humidity has also meant that the bunches and berries are rich in water and therefore more swollen. “ Since the management of the harvest quantity is a fundamental quality control measure, a scrupulous thinning has been carried out in the last few weeks ”, assures Kofler, who does not yet venture any predictions on the quality of the bunches. “ It's still too early to pronounce, also because the weather in the last few days before the harvest has an enormous influence on the acid and sugar content ”, explains the president of the Consorzio Vini Alto Adige, who adds: “ If we still have a little ' luck with the weather, but we can hope to have another good year ”.