Scorching heat causes major changes in Italys sparkling wine industry

CORTE FRANCA, Italy — Workers fan out before dawn to clip clusters of grapes destined to be transformed into Italy’s prized Franciacorta sparkling wine a full 10 days earlier than anticipated, as scorching temperatures brought the fruit to maturation earlier than ever.Climate change is narrowing the window for harvesting wine grapes, forcing winemakers to make quick decisions when even a few days can mean the difference between a good vintage and a bad one.“These are delicate, frantic moments, and everything has to work perfectly,’’ said Berlucchi CEO Arturo Ziliani, whose father, Franco, and estate owner Guido Berlucchi became the first winemakers in the northern Italian region of Franciacorta to produce sparkling wine using the “classic” method famously employed by France’s Champagne makers.“We did not expect such an early harvest or such an acceleration in ripening,” Ziliani said.Weeks of temperatures reaching highs between 37 and 38 degrees Celsius (99 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit), combined with below-average rainfall, have pushed some winemakers in Franciacorta to record the earliest start on record — 10 days earlier than last year and about a month earlier than three decades ago.Berlucchi, the oldest producer of Franciacorta, which is made using the traditional method of secondary fermentation in the bottle, began harvesting Aug.2 as part of an industrywide effort to preserve grape quality in the face of increasingly extreme weather.Experts say several factors combined to push Franciacorta’s harvest so early this year.

A relatively mild winter meant the vines produced buds earlier, while hailstorms damaged some of the yield, lightening the fruit and bringing it to earlier maturation.Even in late July, Berlucchi was targeting an Aug.10 harvest date, but it quickly became clear that Pinot Nero used for sparkling blends and rosé was ready to be picked, signaled by rapidly rising sugar levels.

Within two days, workers were mustered and...