Valpolicella Begins 2025 Grape Harvest With Focus on Quality and Tradition

The grape harvest in Valpolicella, one of Italy’s most important wine regions, has officially begun for the 2025 season. The area, located in the province of Verona, is known worldwide for its red wines such as Amarone, Valpolicella, Ripasso and Recioto. According to the local wine consortium, the region’s wine industry generates an estimated 600 million euros in annual business and attracts millions of tourists each year.

This year’s harvest marks a shift from the earlier focus on white grape varieties across Italy to the collection of red grapes in Valpolicella. The harvest involves 19 municipalities and covers about 8,600 hectares of vineyards. The Consorzio Vini Valpolicella, which represents more than 2,400 producers including growers, winemakers and bottlers, reports that the 2025 vintage is expected to be balanced in quality. Grapes have reached optimal phenolic ripeness, with good sugar concentration and a balanced acidity-to-pH ratio. These factors are important for producing structured red wines with deep color and aging potential.

Christian Marchesini, president of the Consorzio Vini Valpolicella, explained that this year’s harvest volume is projected to be around 850,000 quintals of grapes. This is about 10 percent less than last year’s yield. Of this total, 350,000 quintals are reserved for the drying process used to make Amarone and Recioto wines. The reduction in production is part of a broader strategy by the consortium to maintain the region’s competitiveness and market position internationally. This includes policies on yield limits, promotion and management.

Despite rainfall during the final phase before harvest, conditions have remained favorable for producing high-quality red wines intended for long aging. The main grape varieties—Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella—are reported to be in good health. The consortium credits this to the efforts of local producers in vineyard management and disease prevention.

Harvesting grapes for Amarone and Recioto is done entirely by hand in Valpolicella. This manual labor accounts for about 120,000 workdays during the harvest period. When including mechanized harvesting for other wines in the region, total labor rises to nearly 170,000 workdays.

Valpolicella remains one of Italy’s leading wine-producing areas by value. In 2024 alone, the region produced about 59 million bottles of wine. More than 80 percent of local producers are represented by the consortium, which works to protect and promote Valpolicella wines both in Italy and abroad.

The combination of reduced yields and careful management is expected to result in wines that reflect the unique characteristics of Valpolicella’s terroir. Producers are optimistic that consumers will find this year’s vintage particularly interesting in terms of quality and expression of place.