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ISMEA / UIV 2008 Italian Wine Production Forecast:
Fifth of six parts
Staff Writer – September 9, 2008
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Regional Production (Continued)
The situation in Abruzzo is similar to the Marches region with a quantity increase from 25% to 30%, and in this case as well, production will probably remain below average. The situation though shows a turnaround from 2007, when the extreme drought decimated the output. In fact, this year the water supply was adequate, thus the growth cycle began regularly and continued ideally, without obstacles up to now. If the climate holds, the expectations are for an excellent quality vintage. In June, because of the persistent rainfalls, there were various peronospora infections, with slight loss of product.
Umbria is the exception among the the central region, with an output from flat to 5% decrease. The projection takes into account significant differences between the various regional wine zones, with the province of Terni which comes out in a much better place than Perugia, where the abundant rains up to mid July, little by little scraped away the production potential of the vineyards. In addition some areas were hit by hail storms and infections by peronospora. The hot summer helped to complete a regular ripening. Though delayed about 15 days compared to last year, maturation is re-aligning with the regular harvest period, from mid September to October. The quality is expected to be good, thanks to the longer ripening cycle compared to 2007.
According to ISMEA and UIV projection, the Southern regions show the major quantity increase for the 2008 harvest.
Sicily marks the highest percentile jump forward, with a 35% increase compared to 2007, when the region lost a good part of product mainly because of the drought, but also in part due to anomalous peronospora attacks in spring. For this vintage instead, everything seems to move forward in the best possible way, with harvest scheduled to begin a few days earlier than usual. The complete growth cycle, from blooming to maturation of the fruit, enjoyed a favorable climate. In fact, the pleasant thermal excursion between nights and days, and the lack of excessive heat, strongly contributed to the superior quality of this year's grapes.
Apulia a well is in good shape with 15% increase compared to last year. Production is up in the whole region, though it is the Salento zone which has the strongest come back from the low volume of 2007. Despite the fact that the beginning of the growing phase was timely, the process accelerated somehow during the cycle and harvest will be about one week earlier than usual. The good health of the vineyards and the lack of adverse weather, with the exception of sparse light hail storms in limited areas contributed to the good quality of the harvest.
The Campania region, with 10% increase compared to 2007, production could reach the average output of the last five years. The good weather and the excellent summer climate after the cold of January and February, are bringing the grapes to maturation about one week earlier than normal. Unfortunately, in the province of Benevento, the rain favored peronospora infections with notable damage to the grapes. In the other provinces the quality of the grapes is expected to range from good to exceptional.
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