Harvest starts very early in Sicily's drought-stricken vineyards August 9, 2024

Contessa Entellina, the company's main property in the province of Agrigento, has hardly rained since May. (MARCO BERTORELLO)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Harvest starts very early in Sicily's drought-stricken vineyards

Gaël BRANCHEREAU

In the hills of the Contessa Entellina vineyard in western Sicily, the harvest is already underway, with the grapes ripening earlier than usual due to the drought and high temperatures.

The prestigious Donnafugata vineyards, which stretch across the Italian island from the slopes of Marsala to the mantle of Mount Etna, began their harvest on July 22, two weeks ahead of schedule.

At Contessa Entellina, the company's main estate in the province of Agrigento, there has been almost no rain since May.

"Between October and the end of July, there was 35% less rain," said Antonino Santoro, the estate's technical director and winemaker.

In 2022, the harvest had already started on July 29.

The Sicily of myths is a fertile orchard blessed with rivers of pure water, but the modern Mediterranean island is increasingly suffering from global warming.

Since late spring, the water has stopped flowing and the soil and springs have dried up.

Farmers here are used to the naturally arid territory, but they are being tested.

Even the citrus and olive trees are suffering from the drought and the scorching temperatures, which in 2021 set a European record of 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 Fahrenheit).

- Drop by drop - you

With 460 hectares of vines and 3.6 million bottles a year across all its territories, the Donnafugata company has the financial resources to adapt.

"Before, irrigation was useful, today it's essential," said Santoro.

Around Contessa Entellina, the estate has installed several retention basins that meet around 75% of its irrigation needs, the rest being covered by public reserves.

During June and July, it irrigates the vines using a micro-sprinkler system, which supplies water at a rate of four liters per hour per vine.

"The aim is to optimize the use of water," says Giuseppe Milano, the estate's head of cultivation.

Irrigation is not cheap, costing between 4,000 and 6,000 euros per hectare per year. The average size of an Italian vineyard is 11 hectares.

At the end of July, the Italian government acknowledged that Sicily was facing "conditions of force majeure and exceptional circumstances" due to the drought, according to the Sicilian authorities.

This eases some EU rules on agriculture and allows farmers to defer payments and charges, the region said, in response to a year-long drought that it said was "one of the most severe in the last 50 years".

- Quantity and quality - You know that the name Donnafugata comes from the name of the region.

Donnafugata takes its name from the fictional town in "The Leopard", the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa set in the area during the unification of Italy at the end of the 19th century.

At that time, the grape harvest didn't start until September.

In addition to irrigation, Contessa Entellina adapts by growing its vines taller, up to 1.5 meters, so that the upper foliage serves as a canopy to protect the grapes from the sun.

There's no such shade for the grape pickers, who use pruning shears to harvest the grapes under a scorching sun.

They started at dawn and by 10 o'clock it was already 29 degrees Celsius.

For the first time, the regional authorities have banned work in the fields during the hottest hours of the day, between 12.30 pm and 4 pm.

They are now harvesting Merlot grapes for red wine. The white Chardonnay grapes were harvested in July.

Depending on the varieties and the terroir, the grape harvest in Sicily this year will stretch over three or four months -- "a unique situation in Europe", according to the national agricultural association Coldiretti.

Contessa Entellina's harvest will be smaller than last year's, with smaller grapes.

But Milano insisted that what is lacking in quantity is made up for in quality.

Today, Donnafugata is involved in research projects to help prepare the vines for the changing conditions.

"I'm optimistic," said Santoro. "The vine adapts better than other crops."

It's not just the heat that's affecting the harvest.

Last year, a combination of frosts and floods in the north and mildew in the south cost the Italian wine sector a quarter of its production, allowing France to take over as the world's largest wine producer.

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