The 2019 harvest is ready to start in Valpolicella and new rules of production are setted to be used.

Recently, the members’ assembly of Consorzio Valpolicella (the wine board of Valpolicella producers) approved a modification in the production rules of the appellation,  and according to the Consorzio president Andrea Sartori, “this is just the beginning”. Is new dawn approaching this important wine region? We’ll see. 
The newly approved rules are the following…

Afterwards a quite difficult vintage, this 2015 harvest in Valpolicella looks a lot better, mainly for the red grapes. If 2014 has been claimed by the producers (in Verona area) as “a vintage for white wines”,  2015 is a “red wines vintage” definitely. 
“The 2015 vintage is quite similar to 2007 -  the Consortium Valpolicella says - The wines will be structured, full-bodied and alcoholic (15-16° Vol.)”...

It has been a difficult and stressful harvest, a real challenge for the most producers, and if you ask anyone in Valpolicella, you’ll be replied that nobody remembers a vintage like this.

Now the harvest is over, so let’s try to summarize a few objective facts.

The 2014 vintage started very early: the early stages of germination were 15 days in advance of the media. Up to June everything was fine, but afterwards the temperatures dropped; July and August were cold and rainy.

In a dramatic development following some recent anticipations about a very difficult harvest in Valpolicella (see our report), we learnt that Consorzio Tutela Valpolicella (the organization representing local wine bottlers, cooperatives, wine producers and winegrowers), decided to lower from 50% to 35% the amount of grapes to be reserved for the drying process for the production of Amarone  2014.

Due to a month and a half of heavy rain, hail storms and excessive soil humidity, the health of grapes seems to be undermined almost everywhere in Valpolicella, with the exception of some hills exposed to local fresh winds (for more details, please read our report here)...

The vintage 2014 in Valpolicella risks to be remembered for its rainfalls and fungal aggressiveness: to find a similar one, you have to come back to 1995. Due to a month and half of heavy rain, hail storms and excessive soil humidity, the health of grapes seems to be undermined almost everywhere, with the exception of some hills exposed to local fresh winds.

Currently, this is the situation...