Wednesday,
September 26
The
ANNOTICO Report
Reuters
By Svetlana Kovalyova
Wed Sep 26, 2007
MONTEPULCIANO,
Italy, Europe's
second-biggest wine producer after France, is heading for its smallest grape
harvest in 30 years with output falling 12 percent to 43.5 million hectolitres, according to a recent wine industry forecast.
But with the
harvest under way in
"It will be
a great vintage, of the best quality," said Luca Gattavecchi,
chairman of Consorzio del Vino
Nobile di Montepulciano,
which represents 290 growers and makers of the wine which traces its history
back to the year 790.
Makers of typical
Montepulciano wines -- Nobile and Rosso
-- which belong to top quality categories like DOC (Denomination of Controlled
Origin) and DOCG (Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin) have always
bet on quality rather than quantity to win consumers' hearts, Gattavecchi said.
"We are not
that worried about the output drop," he said.
Predominantly dry
weather this year has trimmed production yields, or the amount of wine produced
from a certain amount of grapes, as grapes have developed a thicker skin and
less liquid, but it also boosted their sugar content, wine growers said.
"The grapes
are fabulous," said Aldimaro Daviddi,
whose family makes about 80,000 bottles of red wine a year, a small
contribution to Consorzio's total output of about 8
million bottles, which include Rosso and Nobile di Montepulciano.
Gattavecchi said vineyards in Montepulciano this year were practically untouched by
mildew, a wine grower's nightmare as it causes rot. "Grapes are very
healthy this year," he said.
By contrast,
grapes in the south of
Tuscan wine
growers said favourable weather at the crucial final
stage of grape maturation from the end of August has also boosted future wine
quality.
"It will be
a five-star vintage," said Alamanno Contucci, whose family has been making wine in Montepulciano for the past 500 years.
(Reuters
Messaging: svetlana.kovalyova.reuters.com@reuters.net; email
svetlana.kovalyova@reuters.com; Tel: +39 02 6612 9450))
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