Last weekend, Luciën de Wit from LuBa Fresh visited his grape producers in Sicily, where they are getting ready for the first harvest. The blue grape Black Magic and the white Victoria (both seeded) will be first packed in 5-kilogram cardboard, and then in the traditional 7-kilogram wooden packaging. “The first grapes will be well absorbed by the market, because the market for blue and white grapes is practically empty.”
Luciën also visited Giuseppe Auteri from Il Galletto. They have maintained a friendly business relationship for 20 years. Guiseppe’s quality brands – Selezione oro, Il Galletto and Auteri – are well-known on the European market. In addition to Europe, Luciën will also market Auteri’s supply to other important global markets this year. He has many branch contacts all over the world, and the option to directly ship containers from Sicily to all global destinations.
After the grapevines flowered , the good weather has ensured good-sized bunches of grapes. Large berry sizes can be seen with the Victoria and the Black Magic grapes in particular. If the climatological circumstances remain favourable this year, Sicily promises to have a good grape year. This is in comparison to the past two years, when the weather prematurely ended Italy’s (long) grape season. The grape season from the mainland starts in early July, in the Puglia region, Italy’s largest grape region.
