The Italian Wine Harvest Begins in 2020 – What Can We Expect

As the autumn arrives, we enter what is traditionally one of the most exciting times on the Italian wine calendar – the harvest.

This is a time when producers finally get to reap the fruits of their labours. It is the start of production for the vintages that they will release in the coming years and it is also often a time for Italian cities to celebrate with festivals and other special events.

But 2020 is a year like no other.

With the global pandemic creating so many changes in how we live our lives, we found ourselves wondering about the effects that it would have on the Italian wine harvest. While it will absolutely still happen, we believe that there will be some new challenges to expect in the coming months.

Just are what those things?

That’s the subject that we aim to cover in this article.

First Things First…The Harvest Has Already Begun

If any of you worried about the possibility of the harvest getting delayed at all then you need not fear. Despite the global situation, the work at Italian wineries still hasn’t stopped and the early stages of the harvest are already in full swing at several vineyards.

We even have some early estimates for total production. According to figures from Wine News, the Italian wine industry expects to produce about 45 million hectolitres of wine over the coming months. While that sounds like a lot (and it is), it is still 5% less than what the industry produced in 2019. Here, we likely see the direct effects of the early stages of pandemic in action. While winemakers had to scramble to create new measures, it’s likely that some vines ended up getting neglected and simply couldn’t produce grapes at the level needed.

Still, in these early days of the 2020 harvest, we’re seeing Italian producers in Franciacorta harvest their Chardonnay grapes for use in sparkling wines. Over the next few weeks, we expect a bustling increase in the harvest activity, even if it is just slightly lowered when compared to 2019.

So, that’s the good news, especially for the Italian economy. Ettore Prandini, the president of Coldiretti, which conducted the analysis that gave us the 2020 figures says:

“With the grape harvest in Italy, an economic engine is activated that generates more than 11 billion in turnover from the sale of wine alone and that gives employment opportunities in the supply chain to 1.3 million people directly involved in vineyards, wineries, and commercial distribution, both for those employed in related activities and service.”

That statement alone shows is the importance of the harvest so it is very good news that it is going ahead almost as planned.

Increased Safety Measures

One of the things that many consumers will still worry about is the potential for the transmission of COVID-19 from those working on the harvest to the Italian wines that the harvest will eventually produce.

Firstly, it is important to note that it is practically impossible for this to happen. By the time any of the bottles produced during this harvest will reach consumers, any trace of COVID-19 will no longer exist. Far too long a period will have passed for it to survive in open air and the virus, from what we understand, cannot be transmitted through the wine itself.

Nevertheless, Italian wine producers are following every possible safety measure during the harvest, including implementing social distancing and regular handwashing.

This is obviously great news for consumers. However, it will also likely lead to a decrease in productivity during the harvest simply because producers and their labourers have a few more hoops to jump through. Still, we don’t see this issue causing any serious delays so the harvest will continue unabated on that front.

What’s more worrying is the potential for the industry to not have the manpower that it normally has available to it.

The Seasonal Work Issue

Forbes recently reported on a potential issues that could affect Tuscany and, by extension, practically every other Italian wine region. 

During the harvest, many producers rely on seasonal workers to complete the picking of the grapes. Typically, about 5,000 workers will travel from other countries into Italy to find work and take part in the harvest.

You can already see the potential problem.

Many of these workers may come from countries that have found their way onto Italy’s travel black list. As a result, they will be blocked from entering the country due to concerns about the coronavirus.

Luckily, this will likely not affect the vineyards that have mechanised their harvesting procedures. But with several hundred producers still relying on handpicking, this potential shortfall in their workforce could exacerbate the productivity issues that may arise due to increased safety precautions. Alternatively, it may force producers to invest in more expensive domestic labour, which could ultimately lead to either lose revenue or price increases on future vintages.

A Glut of Grapes

And yet despite all of this, there are some reports claiming that we may see more grapes available than ever before. The phrase “A Glut of Grapes” for 2020 has been peddled around on several publications.

However, this does not mean that producers will grow more grapes. Instead, it means that many producers have reduced their orders for grapes, which means more of the fruit is on the open market. The result, some fear, is that this “Glut of Grapes” will lead to wine prices falling across the world.

The Final Word

It’s very difficult to predict exactly what we can expect from the 2020 Italian wine harvest. The conventional wisdom suggests lower production than in 2019, though not at a catastrophic level by any means. More worrying are the possible productivity issues that may arise due to a lack of workers.

Still, the Italian wine industry always perseveres and we suspect it will do the same again. And we look forward to welcoming the vintages of 2020 into the Xtrawine store.