In Veneto, thanks to the commitment and passion of our producers, once again this year we could offer a high level product, especially for some vines, such as Glera, and red berried ones. "This was underlined by the Regional Councilor for Agriculture. , Federico Caner , speaking this morning at the 47th edition of the focus on harvest forecasts , a historic event promoted by the Veneto Region and Veneto Agriculture with Avepa , Arpav and Crea-VE which, like every year, represents a important moment of in-depth analysis and comparison on the eve of the harvest. "After a difficult start - continued Caner - especially due to adverse climatic conditions, the heat of summer has favored viticulture and therefore wine production today increasingly oriented to the principles of quality and sustainability . The latter value, strongly shared with the DOC and DOCG Consortia , which is achieved through phytosanitary practices that are also taught in the rest of Italy. I am thinking of the organic productions that have had a significant increase in historical areas, such as Valpolicella, and of the SQNPI certification (National Quality System of Integrated Production), which the Prosecco Doc Consortium has been working on for some time, most widespread in the Veneto area. eastern center, the first step towards the certification of territorial sustainability ".
On the role of the DOC and DOCG Consortia, Caner recalled that: "Today these bodies play a fundamental role in guiding the tools for enhancing the product and protecting the quality of the Denomination understood as global quality and perceived by the consumer who incorporates not only the intrinsic characteristics of the wine, but also the quality of life and of the production area , to guide, even from a technical point of view, the strategic choices of the Denomination itself. Veneto producers are aware that moving towards a certified system of 'entire supply chain, in line with the provisions of the national law, means being able to take advantage of new media opportunities and product enhancement ". "The dialogue with the Consortia is continuous - concluded the Councilor - and the Region, just to give a few examples, promptly activated what was requested in terms of reserves , storage and blocking of claims . Together with the project to offer information to technicians on pruning and vineyard management, monitoring of the phenomenon of golden flavescence was started through the integrated system between the regional phytosanitary service and technicians working in the farms. We have also issued special ordinances for the mandatory control of leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus and for the uprooting of plants symptomatic, with any related sanctions in case of non-fulfillment. This is a commitment that must continue together with the whole system, winegrowers first, to protect the maintenance of regional production potential. I have given a mandate to my offices to identify, in collaboration with Consortia, the resources needed to counter this. In the Veneto and xport of wine is worth 2.24 billion euros , a value that confirms our region as the fourth world power . Precisely in support of the promotion of Veneto wines on world markets, after the publication of the national notice on Friday, we are working on the new resolution that will allow the financing of regional projects for 15 million euros ".
For his part, the Director of Veneto Agriculture , Nicola Dell'Acqua , recalled the Agency's commitment in favor of the regional wine sector, starting with the creation of the three focuses of the Triptych which for many years have contributed to keeping the sector constantly monitored. and updated operators.
In a nutshell, with regard to the forecasts of harvest in Veneto, which began in these hours, this morning's focus, held online with the participation of over 130 operators, confirmed for the Veneto vineyard an average delay in the beginning of the harvest of 8/10 days compared to last year; an overall drop in production of around -10%, with even higher peaks in some areas affected by heavy hailstorms and late April frosts; a health status of the grapes at the optimal time ( slides, reports and videos are available at the following internet address: https://www.venetoagricoltura.org/evento/previsioni-vendemmiali-2021/ ; moreover, the video of the entire meeting ). To keep an eye on the strong resurgence of flavescence dorée reported in all production areas in the future.
Now let's see in detail the situation in the vineyards of the individual provinces, framed under the weather profile by Francesco Rech of Arpav and under the qualitative and quantitative aspect by Diego Tomasi del Crea-Ve di Conegliano based on the data collected on the territory by Avepa and the Triptych team made up of representatives of the Consortia and the Cellars.
Belluno, a difficult year
A particularly difficult year this year in the Belluno area. The prolongation of the winter season resulted in a vegetative delay which to date is about ten days. The beginning of the year was characterized by low temperatures but also by abundant rainfall which favored attacks of downy mildew and botrytis; the presence of symptoms of flavescence dorée is also widespread. New surfaces entered production in the area, but a strong hailstorm that hit the areas of Fonzaso and Feltre compromised about 20% of production (with peaks even higher than in Cesiomaggiore where the damage even exceeds 50%). In practice, due to the anomalous trend at the beginning of the season, there is an estimated 10-20% reduction in the clusters of early varieties (Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay), while the Glera grape is on average. Overall, taking into consideration the entry into production of the new vineyards, a quantifiable decrease in yields is expected on the order of 5-10% compared to last year.
Padua and Rovigo, in the plains hit hard by the April frosts
The late frosts in April heavily affected the lowland area of the province of Padua and the province of Rovigo. Also for this reason, the vintage in this large area is not very loaded. Fortunately, thanks to the frequent summer rains, the clusters in the vineyards have swelled well and are now in an excellent phase of ripeness. From here to the harvest it would take warm and sunny days and cool and airy nights - the wish of every winegrower - to obtain healthy grapes. In quantitative terms, as regards Glera, production is in line with the 2020 harvest, except for the lowland vineyards damaged by spring frosts, where reductions of between 20-25% could result. Good production is expected for Pinot Grigio, except in this case too for lowland vineyards damaged by late frosts and consequent low fertility, so there could be reductions of up to 20%. The Moscato Giallo is instead in line with the 2020 productions; Merlot could be up by up to 10% compared to 2020; for the Raboso a reduction in the plains is estimated, with peaks of up to 50% in some farms.
Treviso, high quality of the grapes, decreasing production
All the vines have a phenological delay of 7-10 days compared to 2020. Given the limited number of clusters present in the plants and the day / night temperature variations of this final part of August, we can hypothesize a very good quality level of the grapes, but as always a lot will depend on the meteorological trend of the next few days. Generally speaking, this year the productions could be much lower than last year, especially for the Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay varieties. Even Glera (Prosecco) is on average less loaded in terms of quantity of bunches on the plant. It is known, however, that this vine is very generous and if it is helped by the pre-harvest rains it could restore its production to almost normal values. Overall, production in the Marca is estimated to be about 10% lower than in 2020, partially offset by the entry into production of new vineyards (about 2-3%). Therefore, an overall production of 5.5,000,000 quintals of grapes is estimated this year, 4,900,000 of which are white and 550,000 are black.
Vicenza, production in decline
In the Vicenza area, where the April frost generated patchy damage, the various phenological phases recorded a delay with respect to 2020 ranging from 7 to 15 days, estimated at 9-12 days in reference to veraison and harvest. Late frosts and golden flavescence were the contributors to an estimated drop in production. In the province an overall decrease in production of about 10% is estimated, but in the areas where the weather problems were less impactful it is believed that production could be in line with the quantitative levels of last year.
Verona, worries about the golden flavescence
From a phytosanitary point of view, to date in the Veronese area the health of the grapes is good, only powdery mildew seems to have appeared in the most sensitive hills. Downy mildew has been seen only in some vineyards located in the valley floor areas, particularly favorable to the development of this fungus, or in this final phase where the copper products alone do not guarantee adequate persistence. In the Soave area, and particularly in the Val d'Alpone near the Vicenza area, the golden flavescence problem has exploded and is clearly growing. In the vineyards the replacements of symptomatic flavescence vines are significantly increasing, in some cases even total replanting is reached when the symptomatic vines exceed 30-40%. In the main production areas it is expected: for Garda and Pinot Grigio Venezie a -10% production compared to 2020; for Chardonnay and other early vines -20%; for Valpolicella the production should be in compliance with the regulations, except in the hailed areas: for the Soave and Soave Classico the production should be down by -5-8%; Bardolino is in line with the production of 2020 and the disciplinary; the Custoza announces a decrease of about -15%, compared to 2020, due to a strong hailstorm; Durello and Arcole are in line with historical productions.
Summary
In Veneto grape production this year should reach 12.5 million quintals (it was 14.039.000 million in 2020); in Bolzano almost 400,000 quintals (440,000); in Trento 1,158,000 ((1,258,700); in Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2,555,000 (3,116,300).
