CORTE FRANCA, Italy (AP)— Workers spread out before dawn to pick the grapes destined for one of Italy’s most prized sparkling wines — Franciacorta. Harvest began as much as 10 days earlier than expected, as heat waves accelerated grape ripening.
Climate change has narrowed the harvest window, forcing winemakers into quick decisions — even a few days can determine whether the harvest is good or bad.
“These are delicate, frantic moments and everything has to work perfectly,” said Arturo Ziliani, CEO of the Berlucchi winery, Franciacorta’s oldest producer. His father Franco and estate owner Guido Berlucchi were, in 1961, the first winemakers in this northern Italian region to produce sparkling wine using the “classic” method, the same one behind French Champagne.
“We didn’t expect such an early harvest, or such an acceleration in ripening,” Ziliani added.
Heat forces night harvesting under floodlights
Weeks of temperatures peaking between 37 and 38 degrees Celsius, combined with below-average rainfall, pushed some Franciacorta winemakers into a record-early harvest start — 10 days earlier than last year, and about a month earlier than three decades ago.
Berlucchi began harvesting on August 2, as part of an industry-wide effort to preserve grape quality amid increasingly extreme weather.
Experts say several factors combined to produce such an early harvest: a mild winter allowed buds to form earlier, while hail damaged part of the crop, reducing yield and speeding up the ripening of the remaining fruit.
In late July, Berlucchi had planned to begin harvesting on August 10, but it quickly became clear that Pinot Nero, used for both the sparkling wine and rosé, was already ready to be picked, evident from a sharp rise in sugar levels. Within two days, workers were hired and the presses prepared.
Midday heat is so extreme that regional rules require workers to take a break from 12:30 to 4 p.m., but winemakers say even the afternoon shift is too grueling. To save time and get the grapes to the presses before they overheat, Berlucchi started last week’s harvest at 4 a.m., using floodlights.
“The grapes are completely healthy,” said Ferdinando Dell’Aquila, enologist and technical director at Berlucchi. “We have to work as fast as possible, pick them, and preserve their acidity.”
Sparkling wine requires complex calculations
Franciacorta isn’t the only region to start early. Sicily began its harvest for still wines in late July, and harvesting has also begun in parts of Tuscany, as well as in most sparkling wine regions.
The calculations are most complex for producers of Champagne-style sparkling wines, which require a delicate balance: significantly higher fixed acidity, a much lower pH level, and less sugar than still red and white wines.
“Early-ripening varieties like Chardonnay require close attention, because a delay of just a few days can leave the grapes unsuitable for sparkling wine,” said Attilio Scienza, professor emeritus at the University of Milan. “Sugar rises too fast, and acidity drops.”
High temperatures require cooling the grapes before they are gently pressed in stainless steel machines to produce the highest-quality juice. Berlucchi runs up to 24 presses a day, often late into the night, to process the unusually early harvest.
Berlucchi is Franciacorta’s largest producer, with about 4 million bottles a year, roughly 20% of the Franciacorta consortium’s total output of about 20 million bottles. About 90% is sold in Italy, with the rest exported to markets in Germany, Switzerland, the United States and Japan.
Winemakers adapting to a new harvest calendar
“Climate change and African weather systems settling over Europe are bringing extreme temperatures and forcing early harvests not only in Italy, but in France and Germany as well,” said Paolo Castelletti, secretary general of the Italian Wine Union.
As early harvests become the trend, winemakers say they will need to start monitoring vineyards even earlier to avoid missing the right moment.
“A good enologist can manage situations like this. I can say with confidence that wine quality isn’t at risk. It simply requires a different way of organizing the work than in previous years,” Castelletti concluded.
Additional context
Beyond the heat, winemakers in northern Italy are also contending with an invasive species — the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica), which is spreading through vineyards and orchards, adding further strain to an already challenging season.
This is part of a broader trend — high temperatures and dry summers in recent decades have forced winemakers across Europe to organize harvests during the cooler parts of the day and to accept reduced yields in order to preserve quality.