"We did not expect such an early harvest or such an acceleration in ripening," Ziliani said. Sparkling wine requires complex calculationsIt is not just Franciacorta that is starting early. Sicily began the wine harvest for still wines in late July. Small parts of Tuscany also started picking, as well as most sparkling wine regions. Berlucchi operates up to 24 presses a day, often late into the night, to process the unusually early harvest.