Kindgo
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Vineyards in Northern Italy Suffer
Vineyards, Olive Groves in Northern Italy Suffer Blow As Hail Falls
R O M E, Aug. 5 — Vintners were assessing their losses Monday after hailstones the size of tennis balls crushed grapes in parts of northern Italy. Other crops were also ruined, including highly prized olives from the Lake Garda region, corn and peaches.
"So many months of work were destroyed in a few hours" during storms over the weekend, said Giancarlo Panarella, the director of Agrotec, an agricultural technology association, in Viterbo, near Rome.
The hailstones on Saturday and Sunday weighed up to 1.5 pounds apiece.
Vineyards in the Veneto region, where Bardolino and Valpolicella are produced, were heavily damaged. The storm uprooted many vines for the production of Franciacorta spumante. Spared was the area of Tuscany where Chianti is produced.
The Italian Agriculture Confederation said it was too early to tally the exact cost but estimated nearly $200 million in damages overall.
Where grapes were spared, low temperatures dipping to 59 degrees Saturday might force winegrowers to postpone harvests by at least a week, Panarella said.
And that week could be crucial.
The moment grapes are harvested must be just right. Picking too early or too late can result in a different texture for the wine. This means that the colder weather could make a significant difference in the quality of the wine, experts said.
"The flavor and sweetness depend on the sugar content, so if the weather returns to normal in the next few days, there should not be a great difference," Panarella added.
But Paolo Capizzi, with the National Meteorology Center, said more strong rain was forecast through Wednesday.
With these projections, the Italian Agriculture Confederation said wine production will likely fall at least 5 percent.
"Not just this year, but next year too, there will be serious consequences," said Enrico Raber, an oenologist in Verona, noting that vines were also damaged by the hail.
Winegrowers in other regions, however, were not complaining.
"We're expecting an optimal harvest," said Piera Alberti, the manager of a winery in the Tuscan town of Montepulciano, 170 miles away from the storms. "The rain that fell earlier this summer was decidedly a plus."
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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