Earliest-ever start to Sicilian grape harvest

Sicilian wine growers have harvested the first pinot grigio grapes earlier than ever before this year, 12 days earlier than usual, the large Settesoli wine cooperative in the west of the Italian island has announced.

The cooperative in Menfi has in past years been the first in Italy to start the harvest, and last year started picking the grapes on July 30.

Heat and dry conditions had led to the earlier harvest this year, Settesoli's Filippo Buttafuoco told Italian television.

"An average of 500 to 600 millitires of rain fall in Sicily each year, but since last autumn we have recorded only 250 millilitres of precipitation," Buttafuoco said. "That is half the water normally available to the land," he added.

High temperatures at an early stage, along with the dry conditions, had led to the grapes ripening around 10 days earlier than usual, he said.

The pinot grigio harvest will be followed by harvests for sauvignon blanc, moscato and chardonnay. The red grapes will come later.

Sicily has been hit by a severe drought. Winter and spring saw scarcely any rain, and the consequences can now be seen in dried-up reservoirs.

Water rationing is being considered in some areas, including the island's capital of Palermo, as the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.