Prosecco producers are gearing up for what the president of the Prosecco DOC Consorzio, Stefano Zanette, has described as the “perfect” harvest in terms of quality.
Zanette is anticipating one of the best productions to date for the popular sparkler after the northern Italian region was treated to “near perfect” growing conditions.
A warm summer then cooling of temperatures, including a some rain just before harvest, has given the region close to ideal growing conditions, according to Zanette.
“The forecast for the upcoming harvest is optimistic, as colder nights and a wider difference in temperatures between day and night helped augment the aroma and will enhance the quality of the grapes,” said Zanette, who believes the sparklers will boast “great flavour and the best acidic profile”.
“The recent rain and lower temperatures were exactly what we had been hoping for,” he added.
The harvest is due to begin this week and bottles will be on supermarket shelves in the UK in time for Christmas.
Italy’s total grape harvest for 2018 expected to be 10-20% bigger than last year, with between 46 and 47 million hectolitres of wine due to be made.
