Italy has surpassed France to become the world's biggest wine producer this year, according to European Commission estimates.
This year Italian wine producers harvested the equivalent of 48.8 million hectolitres of wine, up 13% over 2014, while their French rivals produced 46.45 million hectolitres, down 1% year-on-year.
The variation was due to more favourable weather conditions in Italy, with France experiencing drier weather this year.
Spain came in third place at 36.6 million hectolitres, down 5% on last year. Germany and Portugal followed in fourth and fifth place with 8.788 million and 6.703 million hectolitres respectively. Overall EU member countries harvested the equivalent of 163.8 million hectolitres.
Italy had already overtaken France in wine consumption last year (320 million bottles to France’s 307 million), followed by the leadership position in sales and quality, certified in August. Two months ago, Italian producer Ferrari was awarded the Sparkling Wine Producer of the Year prize.
According to farming association Coldiretti, the Italian wine sector generates nearly €9.5 billion in turnover only from wine sales and employs 1.25 million people.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
