Organic growers hit by mildew in Italy

If you are an organic wine producer in Europe, who has mildew problems, 2023 is looking like a disastrous year.

The Etna wine region in Sicily has been heavily hit by mildew, with organic growers losing up to 95% of their crop.

Giordano Lorefice, who is the owner of Etna’s Tenute dei Ciclopi, told Drinks Business “We’ve never had Peronospora (downy mildew) this bad in the last 10 years; it is a tragedy, we’ve lost 70-90% of the harvest. We are organic, and had no chance to kill it, we can only try to isolate it.”

Many organic growers rely on the in-organic, manmade copper sulphate to prevent mildew, but once established, copper sulphate is not strong enough to save a vineyard.

Like Tenute dei Ciclopi, I Custodi is certified organic, meaning that it cannot apply systemic fungicides to try to combat downy mildew attacks, but must rely on copper and sulphur, which once sprayed on the vine, are easily washed off should it rain again – as it did repeatedly at the start of this year’s growing season.