Aosta Valley, 2026 grape harvest: quality and production hold up despite record-breaking heat and drought

The views of the Aosta Valley wineries are unanimous when it comes to the extra workload they have faced during this unusual vintage, characterised by unusual weather conditions and a compressed harvest period. “We started on 27 August with the whites and finished on 27 September with the reds,” explains Gerbore. Caves de Donnas also brought their harvest forward: “For the first time, we harvested Nebbiolo at the end of September too, a good two weeks early. By the 28th, we’d finished.”

The situation is similar at Grosjean Vins: ‘The harvest began about 20 days earlier than usual.’

According to Alessandro Jans, ‘waiting any longer would have allowed the sugar content to rise a little further, but the acidity would have dropped too much’. And, as Andre Gerbore points out, ‘today freshness and minerality are fundamental elements, they form part of the terroir’s characteristics’.

For Hervé Grosjean, the 2026 vintage “remains a complex one, both in terms of day-to-day management and interpretation: the weather conditions required great care and constant monitoring of the vineyards”. Weather events are becoming increasingly extreme and frequent, and difficult to manage in order to maintain the optimal balance of flavour and aroma characteristics. This is one of the reasons why Cave des Onze Communes has, for the past two years, “employed an agronomist who oversees each of our member estates”, explains Andre Gerbore.

Whilst winegrowers agree that the rainless months and the heat have resulted in ‘very healthy grapes’ – as Jans points out – it is also true – as Andre Gerbore explains – that in the Aosta Valley, ‘where the soil does not retain moisture very well, when it doesn’t rain, it is vital to be able to resort to emergency irrigation. For our business, the availability of water is essential’. Hervé Grosjean agrees: “The ability to irrigate the vineyard during June and July – thanks to our water supply – has enabled us to cope better with the heat and drought and to reach the harvest with grapes in excellent condition.”

Where emergency irrigation was not possible, “the grapes were smaller, the yield was lower and we also noticed an impact on the colour”, explains Alessandro Jans. In the Caves de Donnas vineyard area, “there were even 100 days without rain”.

The issue of water could become a key concern in the coming years, and to ensure we are prepared, Gerbore is convinced that we need not only communal but also private reservoirs, because ‘there are still some farms that do not have access to irrigation systems’. The looming risk is that some winegrowers may be forced to throw in the towel, squeezed by climate change on the one hand and rising costs on the other. This would be a shame, at a time when wine from the Aosta Valley is gaining a wider audience of admirers: not only in other Italian regions but also beyond the border.

carloandrea.finotto@ilsole24ore.com

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED