Italian grape region hit by heavy storms

The centre of the Italian grape region Puglia, has, since last Friday, been hit by very heavy storms. This situation has led to many roads becoming impassable and there has been considerable local flooding. On this link the situation is clearly visible. "What becomes of the grape harvest is very hard to say," explained Lucian de Wit van PeDe. "Most open field grapes have been harvested, but those which haven't should be considered lost. The tunnel grapes should, at best, only have sustained light damage but that will be inventoried later. At this moment it is impossible to venture into the open fields even with agricultural vehicles, so any planned shipments will either be cancelled or at least delayed."

Up until now, the Italian grape season has been running at full steam with very good quality, good demand and holding acceptable prices. Since Monday there has been increasing demand for grapes which has resulted in a slight rise in prices," Lucien said. "At PeDe there are all sorts of grapes widely available, partly due to scheduled shipments from Puglia moving to Sicily. The rain also fell in Sicily but not to the same extent and it did not stop any loading."