Regional Institute of Wine and Oil

2013 harvest

WEATHER TREND: Rainy spring, in Western Sicily with generally lower temperatures; Summer without prolonged thermal excesses (only at the end of July) and average monthly temperature lower than average values; Anomaly Rain at the end of August: 68 mm in Camporeale, 45 mm in Castelvetrano, 30 mm in Noto – Patti – Linguaglossa – Pantelleria, 19 mm in Gela and Canicattì;

HEALTH STATUS OF GRAPES: No damage from Peronospora; Powdery mildew well controlled; Some damage from leafhoppers, only in restricted areas; Some damage from Botrytis due to recent rains in untreated vineyards;

DELAY/EARLY: Slight harvest delay, about a week in early ripening varieties such as Chardonnay and more marked for medium-late ripening grapes such as Catarratto, Nero d'Avola, Nerello mascalese;

QUANTITY/QUALITY (WE ARE ONLY AT 20%) OF THE HARVEST: Quantity, +15 % compared to 2012; Quality, excellent for early varieties, which take advantage of slower maturation, produced by cooler summer temperatures. The grapes not yet harvested show excellent potential, especially where it did not rain at the end of August while, for the other areas, the consequences deriving from the unusual rains of these last few days must be evaluated, which are certainly not positive for the ripening and state grape health.

The attached cartography, created by the Innovation Transfer Unit (SIAS data), highlights the vineyard areas and rainfall from 21st to 31st August. We considered three classes, less than 10 mm, between 10 and 20 mm, greater than 20 mm; the areas with values lower than 10 mm generally do not run the risk of Botrytis infections while, in those where the rainfall was higher than 20 mm, it is advisable to check the health status of the bunches, because the start of of various mold infections; in this case, consider the hypothesis of a specific treatment with products with a short safety interval and compatible close to the harvest.