Following favorable weather patterns this summer, Italian winemakers are experiencing a productive Prosecco harvest this year. A warm, dry summer followed by cooler weather and rain has created almost ideal growing conditions for Glera grapes, which are used to make Prosecco DOC.
Stefano Zanette, president of the DOC council, said, “the [recent] rain and the lower temperatures were exactly what we had been hoping for.”
The harvest began at the end of August, and 2018 Prosecco wines are expected to be on shelves by the end of this year.
Overall, Italian farming union Coldiretti expects the country’s wine harvest in 2018 to be 10% to 20% higher than the 2017 harvest, which produced one of the lowest yields in recent history. Coldiretti estimates that the 2018 harvest will produce between 46 million and 47 million hectoliters of wine.
France, Italy’s rival in wine production, is also on track to increase its 2018 harvest by 27% from 2017.
By Kathy McCabe
