Food & Wine produced a story earlier this week about how the weather in the wine-growing regions of Italy this year has caused serious decreases in the yield of the wine grapes. According to the story, “Coldiretti (the Italian farmers association) blames the low yields on what it called “bizarre” weather, with many areas experiencing a mild winter leading to early vine shoots that were then hit by damaging late-spring frosts. That was followed by drought and, in some areas, hailstorms that gave way to early summer rain and heat, leading to an early harvest. As a result, the association warned that the well-known Chianti region and other denominations in Tuscany could see volumes fall by between 20 to 30 percent.”
Fortunately, in spite of drought conditions there, the quality of the grapes that remain is good and wines are expected to be very good. You can read the story here.
