They have already started picking grapes for Prosecco in northern Italy and in Trento the harvest is underway – the earliest vendemmia since records began.
This is all because of the heatwave that northern and central Italy has been experiencing following a very warm April which brought the vegetative cycle forward by several weeks.
In the far south of Italy, most vines are behind their counterparts in the north and are expected to be harvested later than in the north, even though earlier than usual.
(Those who read the detail of the recent account of Andrea Franchetti in Bordeaux will recall that his vineyards on Etna in Sicily are generally not picked until November.)
As we reported earlier, the French vineyards were also well ahead of themselves after an unusually mild spring but they have been affected by the persistently damp, cloudy summer of 2007 that has dogged northern – though not southern – Europe.
See also Vintage 2007 started last week for news of a global trend, another sign of wine's status as barometer of climate change.