Global wine production to hit 50-year low

Global wine production is expected to fall to its lowest level in over half a century this year, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) warns.

The OIV, which monitors wine output around the world, blames the decline on extreme weather in three of the world’s top wine producing countries.

According to the latest estimates, wine production in Italy, France and Spain is expected to fall by 23%, 19% and 15% respectively. This is not enough to offset losses for old-world producers, despite forecasts for wine-growing regions outside Europe being more optimistic (Australian production is expected to rise by 6% and Argentinian by as much as 25%).

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The impact of this would be to see overall global wine production fall by 8% from its levels last year to about 247 million hectolitres, the equivalent of 1,857,142 bottles of wine. This in turn could “raise prices and dissipate a global surplus caused by a demand slump in the wake of the financial crisis”, says the BBC.

Rupert Millar, fine wine editor of the industry journal The Drinks Business, says that France is facing its worst harvest since 1945. He adds that, with many small producers hit by several years of small harvests, the future looks bleak. “Producers are facing the very real problem of having to sell family domains because, unless the banks are going to help them in some way, they’re stuck”.