Orcia harvest: drop in production, good quality and resistant local grapes

26 September 2017

In the Orcia area more than half of the grape harvest has been lost:  60% due to drought conditions and the rest lost because of animals, boars and deer. At the same time Sangiovese grapes manage to adapt better than others to the changes in climate and the quality of the grapes is good

harvest 2017 orcia wine tuscany The harvesting of grapes is not yet complete, for the red Sangiovese grapes, but it is already possible to calculate the drop in production in the 12 municipalities of the Orcia Doc. The area worst struck by the effects of the extreme summer heat and the lack of rain is around Sarteano, but also Trequanda and Buonconvento have registered heavy loss of production due to the climate. Unfortunately added to this natural calamity there has been an authentic attack by boars and deers which from June onwards have been entering the vineyards and eating unripe grapes in an attempt to slake their thirst and find food. In some cases the combination of these two factors has caused a devastating result with losses of around 80% of the grape production and with the effects of the animals in some cases equal or even superior to the damage caused by the drought. In the Orcia territory the first estimates are far removed from the regional average published at the beginning of September by Ismea and Unione Italiana Vini which predicted a drop in production of 32.5%

Thus a real pity for the lovely Orcia territory, most of which is included in the Unesco heritage list for the integrity of its artistic towns and its agricultural landscape. A widespread territory which includes the municipalities of Buonconvento, Castiglione d’Orcia, Pienza, Radicofani, San Quirico d’Orcia, Trequanda and parts of Abbadia San Salvatore, Chianciano Terme, Montalcino, San Casciano dei Bagni, Sarteano and Torrita di Siena.harvest Orcia wine tuscany

<<In this very particular year the absence of rain and the sandy soils present in some areas of the denomination have transformed the beautiful landscape into an arid zone with oak woods withered by the sun. Moreover, as is well known, in Tuscany there is four times the national average of large wild animals, concentrated mainly in the province of Siena where for years the excessive breeding of boars and deer has not been controlled>> affirms Donatella Cinelli Colombini, President of the Orcia Wine Consortium, explaining the reasons for a situation which has created great difficulty for wineries and their employees.

The scarse results in terms of production fortunately are compensated by the good quality of the grapes which in some vineyards are excellent thanks to the presence of healthy bunches with a higher content as compared to the previous 5 years and with an excellent concentration of extracts in the smaller than normal grapes. Sangiovese is the “fil rouge” which links the denomination Orcia, born on 14 February 2000 and produced by about 60 wineries, mostly very small ones. Orcia wine includes the variety “Orcia” obtained from red grapes of which at least 60% are Sangiovese and the variety “Orcia Sangiovese” which has 90% of these grapes blended with other local grape varieties. There is also a “Reserve” version of the red wines as well as White and Rosé Orcia and Vin Santo.

sangiovese-foglia-tonda-calo-orciaIn spite of the extreme climatic conditions which have really tested the vineyards of the Orcia territory we are encouraged by the research conducted by Attilio Scienza and Donato Lanati who argue that local  grape varieties have demonstrated  a superior capacity of adaptation to climate conditions over the last few years. Where the Sangiovese grape variety is particularly present such as around Montalcino or in Val d’Orcia it has reacted well to the climate changes. We should like to add that Foglia Tonda, a local grape rediscovered and valorized as from the year 2000 in some of the Orcia wines, is also giving great satisfaction as regards resistance to changes in climate.

 

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