The 2026 vintage was challenging for Valdostana viticulture, with concurrent maturations of various grape varieties and an anomalous temperature that tested wineries. Nicolas Bovard, president of the Valle d'Aosta Wine Consortium, highlighted that 'in the past, the harvest never started before mid-September.' But the last five years have shown a significant change, as evidenced by the quantity of wine produced: approximately 160,000 bottles, sold for 40% in Valle d'Aosta, for another 40% in Italy, and the rest abroad. The particular climate has also led to contemporaneous maturations of various grape varieties, which 'required a different management compared to what is normally done when the ripening is staggered.' If this further anomaly becomes the rule, we will all need to think about a profound restructuring of our work.

Furthermore, the great heat poses also a secondary issue of managing the temperature of the grapes, even in the cellar. There is another reason why it was necessary to gather some grape varieties contemporaneously: 'Maintaining the typical characteristics of mountain wines, such as freshness and acidity, which otherwise risk being compromised,' explains Nicolas Bovard, 'but it is increasingly more complex to manage a good balance between ripeness and acidity.' It was precisely the hard work of all involved parties on the field, according to the president of the Consortium, that made 2026 'a good vintage.' However, if record temperatures and water scarcity continue with increasing regularity and frequency 'will become a theme regarding water resources availability, even taking into account the progressive melting of glaciers.' For now, the irrigation systems have avoided the worst, but we do not know until when. Also, the quantity of harvest has been in line with 2025, 'but the availability of water resources in the coming years could become a theme.' These climatic challenges faced by the Valle d'Aosta region are an example of how nature itself is changing, and this has brought new challenges for Valdostana wineries.