Regional Institute of Wine and Oil

Harvest forecast in Sicily

This year the harvest is delayed, the cool summer that has accompanied us up to now has caused a delay in the ripening of the grapes of approximately 7/10 days. The temperatures lower than the seasonal average, which have lengthened the maturation times, lead to a qualitative improvement in the production for a better and balanced accumulation process of the components.

From a quantitative point of view we are forced to record a drop in production caused, in the western part of the Region, by attacks of downy mildew during the flowering/fruit setting period, where the insistent and abundant rainfall in the spring months favored infections.

On the other hand, in south-eastern Sicily, a slight drop in production is attributable to insufficient rainfall in the autumn-winter period.

Production drops are generally recorded, due to the presence of sparse bunches, as a consequence of adverse thermo-pluviometric conditions in the flowering and fruit setting phase.

To date, we therefore estimate an average production decline in the Region, quantified as 15% compared to 2013.

With a continuation of the warm and dry season, with regards to phytosanitary interventions we recommend:

Already darkened grapes - anti-botrytic treatments only in case of significant rainfall events
Non-ripened grapes – continuation of the anti-oid and anti-downy mildew defense in the event of infectious rain events