Living Information

2003-08-12

[LEAD-IN]

1. Business and tourists alike have been suffering from the recent heat wave across Europe. European farmers are preparing for their worst crisis in decades as heat parches their crops. Wine makers are predicting their best harvest in years as Paula Hancocks has been finding out when she visited an Italian vineyard.

[STORY]

2. An Italian dream of years gone by---50 years to be exact, the last time winemakers were this excited about their harvest.

[Anna Maria Baglione/ La Selvotta Vineyard]
“This heat wave has been an extraordinary one. The grape has grown into a very sweet one and a very small one. And in a land rich of minerals and salts, the harvest wine of this year will be a very special one.”

3. And an imminent one. The Chardonnay grapes will be harvested up to 2 weeks earlier than normal. Grapes ripening ahead of schedule have a higher sugar count. The sweeter the grape the more distinct the aromas and bouquets. But the fruit could still fall foul of nature.

“The great risk is that big storms and strong winds. We could easily still get this. We hope to reach our harvest before the weather turns on us.”

4. Light rain is welcome, more than that could rot the early-ripen grapes. But for now, the experts are dreaming of another 1947, a year that created some exquisite wines.

[Paula Hancocks, Rome]
5. So for Europe’s wine makers, the heat wave this summer has been perfect. And even though the sort of temperatures we’ve been seeing do mean fewer grapes which translates into fewer bottles to sell, the mentality even among some of the larger wine producers is changing from quantity to quality. Scarce quantity but fine quality guaranteeing wine makers bigger bucks for their bouquet.

6. For the small vineyards of Italy, the next two weeks are crucial. A weather watch to see if 2003 will become a vintage year to remember.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Rome, Italy. ###

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