A few days after the end of the grape harvest, the Association of Nizza Producers announced their satisfaction with the 2023 grape harvest which, although challenging, portends wines with a great character and balance, with surprising aromas and acidity for the vintage.
2023 Grape Harvest in Nizza Monferrato: a very interesting vintage for quality
The grape harvest that has now come to an end for the producers of Nizza Monferrato is certainly demanding and contained from a quantitative point of view, but it will be remembered as a very interesting vintage for quality and for wines capable of bringing the identity of the territory into the glass as well as surprising acidity and aromas.
“The 2023 vintage – explains Stefano Chiarlo, the President of the Association of Nizza Producers – gave us just about everything: a mild winter with little rainfall, followed by an equally dry spring which then gave way to the providential rains of June which provided breathing space in view of an extremely hot and dry July and August. There was a fear of finding ourselves faced with a potentially problematic vintage, but we were then reassured by the significant rains at the end of August which brought back the balance we were hoping for and which were essential for the good ripening of our grapes”.
Certainly the 2023 vintage saw drought as a major protagonist which also put the Nizza vineyards to the test, vineyards that, however, were able to react well, demonstrating for the second consecutive year a great capacity for resilience to water shortage.
In this sense, the choice made by the Association producers to adapt the regulations regarding vineyard exposures in order to better address the consequences of climate change has proven successful.
“From the year 2000 onwards – continues Chiarlo – the climate has increasingly been characterised by hot years with long summers, which have alternated with years having normal seasonal characteristics. This has led us to think for some years that it might be useful to consider in our specifications also those vineyards that can maintain a little more acidity and freshness, a typical condition of the area of production towards the east and west sides”.
Therefore, the 2023 grape harvest has seen smaller productions, but wines characterized by a very satisfactory quality with also peaks of excellence in some areas of the denomination.
“The future challenge for our producers – concludes the President – will be to plant new vineyards that have characteristics capable of facing today’s challenges. I am thinking of the use of rootstocks that are even more suitable for this type of climate, of alternative plant breeding methods and of other agronomic choices capable of offering valid responses to a climatic situation that is no longer a fear but an objective fact”.
“The support of Regional Institutions will certainly be crucial in allowing producers to make all the necessary innovations, including the technological ones, to deal with the water emergency of recent years”.
