Il Tirreno; Sproviero/Atalmi | High winds damaged tanks at Frattelli Cei; a Carmignano grower surveys damaged Trebbiano grapes

Sudden, violent storms have ripped their way through northern Tuscany’s vineyards between Florence and Lucca, causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage and further hammering an already-reduced crop.

Francesco Miari Fulcis, president of Confagricoltura Toscana, a grower’s organisation, said as much as 22,000 tons of grapes had been destroyed as high winds, lightening, hail and even a tornado ripped through parts of Tuscany on Friday.

"The damage caused by hail and heavy rain was mainly in the area of Montalbano but also across Empolese Valdelsa, Vinci, Cerreto Guidi, Scandicci, Signa and Carmignano," he said. "Just in damage to vineyards we can calculate up to 200,000 quintals of grapes lost, which we estimate to be worth around 20 million euros ($25.7m).

He added that there was also structural damage to vines, with plants literally hacked to pieces, especially in the area of Montalbano. Olive trees were also badly damaged during the storms, which saw grape-sized hailstones breaking car windows and uprooted trees damaging houses.

"It would have take less than 10 days to finish the harvest," one Castelvecchio grower said, adding that while Merlot and Chardonnay grapes were already in the winery, half the Sangiovese had been left in the vineyards, along with the Cabernet.

"We already harvested something," a spokesperson for Tenuta di Capezzana said. "But in the Comeana vineyards we still had all the Trebbiano [to be picked]."

That will affect not only the estate's white wines, but also vin santo, the sweet wine made from dried grapes, for which the harvest has just started.

Across Europe many wine regions are benefiting from a welcome Indian summer, but intermittent storms continue to blight some wine areas, where wine producers have yet to finish harvesting.