The 2024 vintage sees an 8 percent increase in the harvest compared to the previous disastrous year, but bad weather and drought weigh on Italy's vineyard, keeping, according to initial estimates, wine production between 41 and 42 million hectoliters, well below the average of recent years. This is the result of the Coldiretti/Divulga Study Center survey on the performance of the wine sector presented ahead of the G7 Agriculture meeting in Ortigia. A grape harvest that has now entered its prime and continues to see Italy split in two. In the North, the bad weather, with the intense rains and hailstorms of spring and early summer, has put a strain on the work of wine growers, forcing them to carry out numerous interventions for the phytosanitary defense of the vineyards, especially for the organic ones. In addition, on some varieties excess rain cut and "lightened" the bunches. In contrast to the South, the harvest began with a delay of 10 to 15 days compared to last year and an expected completion date of mid to late October with the later grapes (cabernet/ nebbiolo/raboso) and in the higher hill areas (Valtellina). In the Central South, on the other hand, the harvest will go on until the first decade of November, with late-ripening grapes (Aglianico) being picked in inland and high hill areas (Irpinia).