The Mazzarrone grapes campaign will start in ten days

"We are now only ten days away from the opening of the grape campaign in Mazzarrone, in a year that seems promising in terms of quality and with the Victoria variety looking wonderful," said the President of the Mazzarrone PGI Grape Consortium, Giovanni Raniolo.

"In some plots we have already made the first cuts, but the yield that is quantitatively appreciable will arrive only in the next few days. The Victoria grape starts from a Brix degree (sugar content) of 14/15, while the Black Magic will have on average at least one Brix degree more."

John Raniolo

"The most abundant quantities will obviously not arrive until June for large-scale retail supplies. At this time and throughout the month, the grapes will be destined for our trusted commercial references and wholesalers who are specialized in Italian grapes. However, from the second week of June, white, red and black seedless grapes will take place. Even for these varieties this year, the expectation is high, thanks to the trend recorded so far," said President Raniolo.

PGI-labeled grapes will not start before mid-June
"So far, we have tried to provide an overview of what is the current state of affairs in our production area because the branded grapes will not start before mid-June, with degrees Brix not below 16, as per the specification. On the whole, the quantity of grapes on the plants this year is high and of excellent quality. The weather has also been favorable, with some auspicious rains, while temperatures are definitely becoming warmer, typical of Sicily in this season."

"This year there are all the conditions for a high-quality and commercially interesting product in terms of quantity and variety. At the moment, of course, it is too early to talk about prices, but we are counting on a season with high remunerative standards for our consortium members," concluded the president.

The Consortium has registered growth in terms of members with ten new entries this year, for a total of 180 consortium members.