The grape harvest is not what it used to be (and the grapes are no longer pressed with the feet)

Even the grape harvest is no longer what it used to be. Today it starts on average at least three weeks earlier than a quarter of a century ago and this is not said by a weather app with inconsistent forecasts (in comparison with which the late Colonel Bernacca looked like a sharpshooter in the State Police), but by the living memory of the vine growers-craftsmen like Francesco Paolo Valentini in Abruzzo, for example. A true amanuensis in that he writes and preserves, year after year, everything written by hand and fountain pen. It is climate change, overt - perhaps irremediable - at least until we stop talking only about melting glaciers and begin to understand that the future of wine is at stake today, row by row.

The grape harvest is the moment that decides an entire year's work: the borderline between glory and defeat. Taking the grapes out of the vine is not a detail: if you are looking for freshness, harvest earlier; if you are aiming for intensity, wait a little but dit depends a lot on the grape variety because there are early and later varieties.

Let's take Chardonnay as a reference, which seems the easiest of grape varieties. In reality, it is a whimsical diva, then you can choose your way around Madonna, Wanda Osiris or Drusilla Foer. Chardonnay in Sicily you usually pick it in early August and with the sun melting your tattooed eyebrows (like mine). In Franciacorta around mid-August, in Burgundy at the end of the month and in Champagne at the beginning of September. Same grape variety, four geographies, four styles. In other words, incomparable wines - or sparkling wines. More than a grape, I call it a litmus test of the wine planet. However, the destiny in the glass depends on that moment, on an important choice that the oenologist decides together with the agronomist. These two figures, in the case of artisanal producers, often also coincide with the ownership of those vineyards.

Immediate drinkability or ageing? Freshness, verticality or volume? A matter of days, hours, and that's not enough because in a flash, a hailstorm can make everything go haywire. Yeah, and that's trouble!

The mind of man, the hand of the good farmer can plan everything, but the sky always has the last word. So does the choice go to scissors and crates (with cheerful seasonal labourers) or the mechanical grape harvester that strips entire hectares in one night? Traditional crushing or techno-chic cryomaceration? Million-bottle question: how do you harvest, really? It depends on several factors, not least the production size of the company.