The point of the winemaker Donato Gentile after the harvest just ended, Monday 7 October with the last bunches of Aglianico
Monday 7 October was the last day of harvest for Cantina di Venosa (PZ). A year characterised by an advance of two and a half weeks: Moscato starting from 11 August, then Malvasia , Merlot for rosés, other grapes for sparkling bases, Greco Bianco di Basilicata and finally the most important grape variety of the area, Aglianico del Vulture , 20 days early from 25 September, and whose harvest has just concluded.
The year 2024 will be remembered by the 300 members of Cantina di Venosa, the most important wine cooperative in Lucania, both for the high quality of the grapes and for the low quantity of the harvest: a 50% drop, due to drought, compared to 2022. Production amounts to 26-27 thousand quintals, compared to the 55 thousand quintals that the members harvested on average each year. The only exception in the production trend was 2023, when due to downy mildew - a serious cryptogamic disease of the vine - just 14 thousand quintals of grapes were harvested; almost half of the current year.
"The spring weather trend - explains the winemaker of Cantina di Venosa, Donato Gentile - meant that there was already an advance in budding, then the subsequent return of cold slowed down the development of the shoots and this helped us a little. However, there was a significant increase in summer temperatures starting from the beginning of July and an acceleration of the vegetative season. Despite this, for us the harvest was exceptional in terms of quality, the grapes are extraordinary in terms of ripeness and complexity: being in quantities much lower than average, the plant was able to bring the bunches to perfect ripeness with ease. Furthermore - continues the winemaker Gentile - it was easier to obtain grapes of this level because we are in an area with particular micro-climatic conditions, almost Nordic despite being in southern Italy, on the slopes of the Vulture volcano, in the hinterland, with vineyards cultivated on hills between 350 and 550 meters above sea level. A territory characterized by an excellent night-time temperature range, with drops in temperature that can maintain good acidity in the grapes; and this gives greater quality. Instead, in the lower areas, in other areas of Italy, where it was very hot, I heard various producers complaining about a drop in acidity and this can negatively affect the potential longevity and balance of the wines. But this has not happened here. And it is also partly due to the long zoning work of the past years, when we went to identify the highest and most suitable areas for growing vines, capable of better preserving the acidity of the bunches. This was our strong point and so the heat did not affect us".
