UpdateGlobal wine production is expected to reach a sixty-year low this year. This is due to disappointing harvests in the Southern Hemisphere and in some European countries due to poor weather conditions. This is what the International Organization for Vine and Wine (OIV) says.
Based on information from 29 countries, together accounting for 94 percent of global production, between 241.7 million and 246.6 million hectoliters of wine will be produced this year. One hectoliter is equal to 133 standard wine bottles, or 100 liters. It would be a decrease of 7 percent compared to 2022. Last year, less wine than average was produced.
France largest producer in Europe
In wine countries Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile and South Africa, wine production will be 10 to 30 percent lower than last year, the OIV predicts. In Europe, wine production in Italy, Greece and Spain is hit hardest by bad weather conditions, including drought.
It would mean that Italy is no longer the world’s largest wine producer, but that France takes that place for the first time in nine years. Italy drops to second place. Production there has fallen by 12 percent. The country works with 504 vine varieties, each of which requires a different ripening period. That is why production is extremely sensitive to the effects of erratic weather, the main agricultural union Coldiretti recently stated.
“Extreme events”
The phenomena that have affected the vines this year are very diverse and have not yet been shown to be directly linked to climate change, says Inaki Garcia de Cortazar-Atauri, from the French agricultural research institute Inrae. On the other hand, “we see that there are more and more recurring extreme events” such as heat waves or heavy rainfall in certain areas and there are the long-known plagues such as mildew.
In France, production has remained more or less stable, although there are strong regional differences. Bordeaux and southwestern regions have suffered from the spread of mildew, while Languedoc-Roussillon has been hit by heatwaves and drought. On the other hand, according to the OIV, “particularly high” volumes are expected from Corsica and the Cognac and Champagne regions.
Balance
Some countries are doing better than last year. In the United States, the fourth largest wine country in the world, 12 percent more wine is expected to be produced than last year. This is partly due to the cooler temperatures and heavy rain in the Napa and Sonoma wine regions.
According to the OIV, there is not only bad news: “In a context in which global consumption is declining and inventories are high in many parts of the world, the expected low production could ensure balance on the world market.”
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Tags: Forecast worldwide wine production lowest point years extreme weather poor harvest
