Heatwave in Italy: Winemakers Fear for the 2026 Prosecco Vintage

The Prosecco-growing region in northern Italy near the Austrian border is particularly affected. Sandro Bottega, Sandro Bottega, warned that the persistent heat is slowing the ripening process of the grapes. „Dadurch bestehe die Gefahr, dass sich die typischen Aromen nicht vollständig entwickelten oder beeinträchtigt werden“, so Bottega. Should rainfall occur in July, 2026 could even become an outstanding vintage – an assessment shared by Riccardo Cotarella, Riccardo Cotarella. Cotarella emphasized at the same time that the grapes are currently healthy and there is still sufficient time until the harvest.

Structural Risks from Climate Change

According to the CIA, Italy's wine sector produces more than 44 million hectoliters annually across approximately 670,000 hectares of vineyard area. Should the average temperature permanently rise by more than two degrees Celsius, up to 90 percent of coastal and low-lying growing regions could no longer produce high-quality wine under sustainable conditions, according to the association. This forecast illustrates the structural threat that climate change poses to traditional wine-producing countries such as Italy.

In addition to viticulture, other agricultural sectors are also suffering from the heatwave. In parts of the rice-growing regions of northern Italy, fields have already dried out and the plants are withering. Temperatures of up to 37 degrees Celsius are expected in the coming days, which is likely to further aggravate the situation for rice farmers. In the barns, the dairy industry is also recording declines because the animals are suffering from the heat.

Demands on Policymakers

Farmers are also facing rising costs. To cool the animals in the barns, fans often have to be used – an additional item that puts further pressure on already thin margins. According to the CIA, nearly 380 extreme weather events were recorded in Italy last year, increasing the pressure on insurance systems and political countermeasures.

Cristiano Fini called in this context for „besseren Versicherungsschutz gegen Klimarisiken sowie stärkere Investitionen in Innovation und klimaresistente Rebsorten“. With this, Fini also picked up on a demand that has been discussed in Italian agricultural policy for years: advancing adaptation to climate change through research, breeding, and financial protection of farms.

Despite the acute pressures, sentiment in the sector is not unanimously pessimistic. While Bottega warns of concrete risks for aroma development, Cotarella sees the situation in a more nuanced light: a trend reversal is still possible, provided the weather turns in July. The coming weeks until the harvest are therefore regarded as a decisive phase in which the course is set for the quality of the 2026 vintage.

What is clear is that the heatwave exposes the structural weaknesses of Italian agriculture in dealing with extreme weather conditions. Whether wine producers will get off lightly now depends essentially on the weather pattern over the next few weeks as well as on political decisions on adaptation strategies and risk coverage.