Drought and heat could bring forward Swiss grape harvest

The ongoing drought and heat are causing grapes to ripen earlier. Lucerne’s wine-growing commissioner, Nicole Theiler, therefore expects this year’s grape harvest to begin “a few days to two weeks” earlier than in an average year. Whether the grape harvest will actually begin earlier depends on the weather in August and September, Theiler told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA. The viticulture commissioner is the expert on winegrowing in Central Switzerland. “Warm weather speeds up the…