Grape Harvest Underway Early this Year

Ljubljana, 12 August

The drought and warm temperatures in recent months have forced Slovenia's winegrowers to start preparing for the grape harvest earlier than usual. The first winegrowers are set to begin the harvest in about a week's time, expecting a quality vintage, albeit in smaller quantities than usual.

The head of the farm advisory service in Goriska Brda, the western region that ranks as one of the leaders in winegrowing in Slovenia, told STA that the harvest was set to begin at the end of next week. The first sorts to be harvested will be Chardonnay and White Pinot and Sivi Pinot, Goran Jakin said.
According to Jakin, the harvest is starting three weeks ahead of schedule, which locals say is a first as far as they can remember. The winegrowers in Goriska Brda are expecting a good vintage, given that early vintages are usually better. However, the quantity is expected to be somewhat down on last year, Jakin said.
In Vipava, a valley in western Slovenia, the harvest is to begin sometime after 20 August, according to Josko Ambrozic of the Agroind wine cellar. He said the harvest would be a month earlier than usual.
The situation is similar in the eastern parts of Slovenia, where grape harvests always start a little later than in the warmer and drier western Slovenia. According to the Jeruzalem Ormoz wine company, the harvest is to begin in early September.
Oenologist Cvetka Sakelsek said the vintage was looking good at the moment, having been spared the worst of the drought and disease. The first sorts to be harvested will be Rizvanec (Mueller-Thurgau) and Muscatel.
In Ptuj, too, the harvest will begin at least two weeks early and the local winegrowers are expecting a good vintage, although they are not making any concrete predictions.
In southeast of the country, in the wine districts of Dolenjsko, Bela krajina and Bizeljko, the situation is much the same, with the quantity of the harvest expected to be somewhat smaller than in recent years but the vintage being good.
According to farm adviser Joze Maljevic of the Novo mesto Agriculture and Forestry Institute, it is difficult to say when the harvest would begin since the weather can still turn sour. However, without major changes, the harvest could begin before the end of August for the early sorts.
Slovenia has more than 15,000 hectares of vineyards, producing around 130,000 tonnes of grapes.

Grape Harvest Underway Early this Year

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