Nope, this is not some form of hellish vendetta even though it might sound like it.
Lucifer, you see, is the name which has been given to the next heatwave. Lucifer’s breath is about the render this year’s particularly hot Italian summer even hotter.
The Lucifer effect will kick in a little later this week apparently.
According to the weather people, central and southern Italy will be worst hit by the latest in a series of heatwaves of ever increasing intensity which have been taking temperatures to new heights all over the Boot.
I’m in Genoa at the moment and I’ve never known it to be so hot. Genoa is usually kept bearable by cooling sea breezes. Not this year though. The heatwaves appear to have burnt the puff out of the gentle winds which usually cool Italy’s northern coastal city down in the summer evenings.
All this heat, as one might expect, is playing havoc with agriculture in Italy and some seem to think Italian wines may suffer. Others though, think the torrid 2012 heat may lead to some very interesting vintages.
Some vines in Italy will survive Lucifer and strong sun tends to lead to the production of wines with a higher than normal alcohol content as a result of the grapes receiving a boost to their sugar content from the strong sunshine, or so wine producer Ray Lamothe of Tuscan Enterprises once told me.
While the Lucifer effect may take temperatures to new heights and boil everyone in Italy in the process, the infernal heat may also lead to some devilishly good Italian wines.
2012 may well be a vintage wine buffs will love.
We shall see and so, I hope, shall I, unless that is, I melt into a puddle of sweat.
