Where are Italy’s vineyard areas going?

In the wine industry, people have become increasingly aware of what can be called The Great Grape Migration, resulting from agricultural declines due to climate change (Diversity buffers winegrowing regions from climate change losses). Indeed, in the northern hemisphere, Climate change pushes winemakers north. There has been much less talk about the southern hemisphere; so, here I will look at the north only.

The issue is, of course, that grape varieties each have a set of temperature preferences (both upper and lower) for producing high-quality wine-making grapes. If the climate changes, then the best varieties in any given area likely also to change.

However, there is also another potential phenomenon in play. Entire vineyard areas might change in size, as they change their suitability for grape-growing (ie. net loss of area). This is a difficult idea to study, because there are many factors that affect the choice of vineyard locations. However, here I will look at some data that suggest that the phenomenon might be worth looking into in more detail.

We can start by looking at the recent decrease in vineyard area in the three biggest grape-growing countries of the world (although note that China is now seriously challenging them in size). The data for the first graph are taken from Il Corriere Vinicolo: Vino in Cifre No. 11 (2021).

In all three regions, the vineyard area has decreased this century, up until c. 2015. For Italy, the decrease was c. 20% between 2000 and 2015, with an increase of c. 5% since then. The publication cited above explicitly notes that 2009–2011 were years of grubbing up of vines, with official compensation. Moreover, since 2016 there has been a licensing system for vineyards.

So, where have the Italian vineyards gone? The same publication provides data for the eight regions (out of 21) with the largest vineyard areas, as shown in the second graph.

Clearly, the biggest decrease in area has been in Sicily, down 30% since the turn of the century. The biggest increase has been in Veneto, up 40%, along with Friuli Venezia Giulia, up 45%. A quick glance at a map will convince you that Sicily is the southern-most region, while the other two areas are among the northern-most in Italy. Indeed, along with Trentino Alto Adige (up 11%) they cover the Dolomite Mountains of north-eastern Italy, thus providing a bit of altitude, as well. The other large northern Italian regions (Lombardia, Piemonte) are on the flatter western hills — where there has not been much change in vineyard area.

One could possibly see this as a move towards higher-quality wines; and this bears looking into. Much of the reduction in Sicily has been in the south-western corner, in the Marsala region, well-known in the past for favoring high production of somewhat oxidized wines. On the other hand, places like Mount Etna have been booming (Sicily turns up the (wine) heat).

However, this does not mean that good-quality wines cannot be made in the south-west of Sicily, or anywhere on the island, for that matter (eg. see Sicily is Italy’s leading wine region — here’s why).

Indeed, from the south-west I particularly like the Grillo Parlante white, from Fondo Antico. This is a pun name, as “grillo” is the Italian name of both a grape variety and crickets. Il Grillo Parlante (The Talking Cricket) appeared (un-named) in Carlo Collodi’s (1883) book Le Avventure di Pinocchio — he acquired a name in the (1940) Disney movie Pinocchio. Fondo Antico also produces Memorie Rosato, which is a rosé that is not released until it is 5 years old — not many companies would try that!

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the vineyard areas of Italy continue to relocate, and just how much of the impetus comes from climate change, as opposed to changing tastes in preferred wine styles. There is also the issue that Overall consumption of alcohol in Italy is decreasing; but that is a separate topic.