Did you know some Italian wine is harvested at night ?

This is exactly what the great Sicilian Vineyard Donnafugata does. Some of their great Italian wine is gathered in the dark.

The Donnafugata Chardonnay in the area of Contessa Entellina is harvested at night in order to adapt to the big temperature gap between day and night which can go from 35 degree Celsius (95 degree Fahrenheit) during the day to 16 – 18 degree Celsius (61 – 65 degree Fahrenheit ) at night. During the cool hours of the night there is no risk of fermenting during the grape gathering.

Harvesting at night is a technical choice that allows to preserve the grape aromas. And at the same time this kind of wine production saves 70% of energy in the cooling before pressing. So it is a sustainable choice as well. This traditional but innovative Wine producer tried this technique for the first time in 1998, and after seeing the results stayed with it.

We thank Donnafugata for the great pictures and invite you to order some of their excellent Italian Sicilian wine on byitaly.