Winemakers in northern Italy's Franciacorta region are significantly accelerating grape picking to combat rising temperatures. driven by extreme heat, producers are harvesting fruit much earlier than in previous decades to protect the quality of their sparkling wines.
The 30-year acceleration of the Franciacorta harvest
Climate change is fundamentally altering the viticulture calendar in northern Italy's Franciacorta region. According to the report, winemakers are harvesting grapes 10 days earlier than last year, a trend that reflects a massive one-month advancement compared to three decades ago. This shift is being driven by a combination of mild winters that cause earlier budding, recent hailstorms that lihgten fruit, and intense heatwaves where temperatures have reached between 37 and 38 degrees Celsius.
The pressure to pick early is not limited to this single region. As the report notes, Sicily began its still wine harvest in late July, and parts of Tuscany have also begun picking. This trend of early maturation is becoming a widespread challenge across major European wine-growing territories.
Berlucchi’s 4 a.m. floodlit shifts and 24-press daily grind
Berlucchi, the largest producer in the region, has implemented radical new labor schedules to combat the extreme midday heat. To avoid the intense sun, the company has begun harvesting at 4 a.m., utilizing floodlights to allow workers to pick grapes in the early morning hours. This move follows regional labor rules that require workers to stop between 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. when temperatures are most dangerous.
As stated by Berlucchi CEO Arturo Ziliani, these harvest periods are "delicate, frantic moments" where everything must function perfectly. The scale of the operation is massive; Berlucchi operates up to 24 presses a day, often late into the night, to process the crop. The company produces approximately 4 million bottles annually, accounting for roughly 20% of the Franciacorta consortium's total 20-million-bottle output.
The high-stakes acidity requirements for Chardonnay and Pinot Nero
Maintaining the chemical balance of sparkling wine requires extreme precision during the pressing stage, especially when heat is a factor. For producers using the "classic" method of secondary fermentation in the bottle, the margin for error is razor-thin. attilio Scienza, a professor emeritus at the University of Milan, warned that early-ripening varieties like Chardonnay require immense care because a delay of just a few days can cause sugar levels to rise too quickly while acidity falls too rapidly.
To protect the quality of the juice, the grapes must be cooled before they are gently pressed in stainless steel machines. Technical director Ferdinando Dell'aquila of Berlucchi emphasized that the primary goal is to harvest as quickly as possible to preserve the fruit's essential acidity. This is particularly critical for the Pinot Nero used in sparkling blends and rosés,which signaled readiness through rapidly rising sugar levels this August.
Can oenologists indefinitely manage these rising sugar levels?
The increasing presence of African weather systems over Europe is creating a new, unpredictable reality for winemakers. Paolo Castelletti, secretary general of the Italian Wine Union, noted that these systems are forcing early picking not only in Italy, but also in France and Germany. This raises significant questions about the long-term sustainability of current viticulture practices.
While experts suggest that a skilled oenologist can manage these volatile situations, it remains unverified how much more the harvest window will continue to shrink. There are also unanswered questions regarding whether the increased costs of nighttime labor and rapid-cooling technology will eventually impact the global export competitiveness of Franciacorta wines in markets like the United States, Japan, and Germany.
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