For the Veneto vineyard, what is being presented is undoubtedly a particular vintage, which requires great attention from the field technicians, but which at the moment does not give rise to particular concerns. The climatic trend from here on will be fundamental: obviously beautiful sunny days accompanied by good temperatures would be needed. The point on the state of the Veneto vineyard on the eve of summer is scheduled for next June 16 on the occasion of the first meeting of the now historic Vitivinicolo Triptych promoted by Veneto Agricoltura , with the Region, Avepa, Arpav, CREA-VE and the University of Padua .
The appointment will be online - due to anti Covid restrictions - on the Zoom platform (https://bit.ly/3geioT8) at 9:30 am.
As every year, the weather trend of the first half of the year will be presented and the pulse tested in the various wine production areas of our region. In this regard, (https://youtu.be/l57x1Di7xB8) Veneto Agricoltura has created an interesting video that summarizes the current phenological phase of the vineyards in the Bardolino-Custoza, Valpolicella, Vicentine hills, Euganean Hills, the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene DOCG area, Prosecco DOC and Eastern Veneto.
In a nutshell, starting from the hinterland of Lake Garda, the phytosanitary situation in the vineyards of the Bardolino-Custoza area is more than good. The low temperatures in winter and then in April slowed down the vegetative trend by 10-12 days. Fortunately, the frosts of 7 and 8 April did not affect the hilly areas. The plants are currently in full bloom. Cases of downy mildew are fortunately recorded only in isolation as in the last two months windows have been opened in order to promptly and adequately intervene with the defense treatments of the vineyards. Some yellowing is present in patches due to the weather in the month of May, rainy and with low temperatures.
Also in Valpolicella the vegetative restart was delayed by the anomalous weather trend of April and May. In the vineyards there are cases of yellowing caused by low soil temperatures which have limited the transfer to plants of minerals such as iron, manganese and zinc. The production of Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella promises to be in perfect balance. Perhaps for the Corvinone variety the production could be above average. The technicians and producers expect a year of great quality, especially if the weather will definitely turn better, allowing the recovery of the phenological delay.
In the Vicenza hills, the Consortium technicians recall that budding and flowering are delayed by 15 days. Fortunately, as in all the hilly areas of Veneto, the frosts of early April did not cause damage to the vines. The anomalous vintage, however, teaches that it is increasingly necessary to know how to better interpret the terroir and consequently the agronomic techniques, precision viticulture, fertilization, green management, etc. In other words, it is important to "discover" the value of the naturalness of the vineyard in order to be able to work it more easily.
On the Euganean Hills, the vineyards are currently in full bloom even if some varieties are already facing fruit set, that is the initial phase of fruit development. To date, there are no particular problems due to downy mildew and powdery mildew; here and there you can see some oil spots on the leaves. Basically, the roofing works worked, confirming the high level now reached by our winemakers. On the other hand, it should be noted that in the plains, unfortunately, the late frosts in April created some serious problems, we just have to wait to assess the real damage.
Moving on to the Prosecco world, in the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG area it seems that at the moment everything is going well; flowering is starting these days and everything is under control. As for the extended area of Prosecco DOC , including the lowland areas, the vintage - say the technicians - is indeed anomalous and complicated, due to the climatic conditions of April and May, which among other things led to even some hailstorms, but it is still under control. The coordination between the Consortium, field technicians and producers works and this bodes well. Undoubtedly the weather trend recorded so far has not made things simple, but at this moment it is premature to talk about production losses, as has been done, as from now to the harvest there are numerous variables that will affect the final result. , starting with the weather and the final weight of the bunch.
Finally, everything under control, even in the large area of Vini Venezia DOC , which affects both the province of Treviso and Venice . Here, too, the cold spring temperatures slowed down the phenological phases of the vine. Flowering is 8 days late, in particular for Chardonnay, but also for Pinot Grigio, Cabermet, Raboso, Tocai and Verduzzo, typical productions of this important Veneto wine-growing area.
The detailed analysis of the Veneto vineyard will in any case be presented on the morning of June 16, during which - in agreement with the University of Padua - TESAF and the Crea Viticulture and Enology of Conegliano - the future of precision viticulture will also be discussed.