The start is about a week earlier than the historical average, and the bunches of grapes currently “look magnificent,” as Andreas Kofler, president of the wine consortium, emphasizes. Everything is ready in Alto Adige for the start of the 2025 harvest, with the first pruning of the vines scheduled for late August. Despite the cold July, “the growing season has so far not presented major challenges for winemakers,” Kofler continues, with the natural hope that no unexpected events will arise in the coming weeks to complicate a year marked by optimism.
The Alto Adige Wine Consortium takes stock of the 2025 harvest: there is optimism for the year
While the grape harvest in the lower areas of Alto Adige usually begins in early September, this year the 2025 harvest is expected to be earlier, starting as early as the end of August. “At higher altitudes, vegetation develops even earlier than the historical average, so the harvest will begin not just a week earlier, but even more,” explains Andreas Kofler.
The president of the Alto Adige Wine Consortium is optimistic about this year’s harvest:
“At the moment, the bunches are looking magnificent, also because the severe hailstorms have spared the entire region, and there have been no problems with vine disease,” he says. “Of course, the grapes aren’t in the cellar yet, but we hope to continue as planned.”
It’s not just the absence of problems and the good quality of the grapes that are convincing. “Yields this year should also be average,” says Kofler, referring to the 2025 harvest. Only a few varieties are expected to see slightly lower yields. “Gewürztraminer, for example, has suffered somewhat in terms of quantity in some areas, but overall, there shouldn’t be any significant losses,” concludes the president of the Consortium, which represents all the entities in the Alto Adige wine sector.
“All we can do is cross our fingers for the winemakers in all the region’s wine-producing areas and hope that nothing goes wrong as we approach the finish line,” Kofler concludes. Although it’s too early to make predictions about the 2025 vintage, the Alto Adige Wine Consortium expresses a general sense of confidence.
