Production of Chianti is expected to drop some 15% this year over 2007 but the quality will be good, a leading expert said on Monday.
''In Tuscany the harvest looks good and although production will fall by 15% the quality will be very good,'' observed Luca D'Attoma of the Consorzio Chianti Colli Fiorentini, which gathers together 33 vineyards in 18 towns to produce a wine with the DOCG label, indicating a guaranteed protected designation of origin product.
The grape harvest in the Chianti region is almost two thirds completed in coastal areas, some two weeks ahead of interior vineyards.
''This year we went through a period of major drought but recent rains have been very beneficial, D'Attoma told ANSA.
However, he added, ''quality in Italy, and Tuscany in particular, will depend on how much individual producers have invested in their vineyards''.
Investments in vineyards over the past ten years have increased by 40%, the expert observed, ''because there is no longer any room for improvisation. Quality is the name of the game to ensure that Chianti is our calling card in the world, there is no margin for error''.
According to D'Attoma, there is a link between price and quality because ''higher prices usually indicate that more attention has been paid to production. And it takes ten years to get a return on investment in these cases''.
