The EU is facing one of the lowest wine harvests on record, down 14% to 145 million hectolitres, due to the extreme weather conditions that hit Europe this year.
A report from farmers' union Copa-Cogeca indicates that France and Italy, in particular, were badly affected, with France experiencing an historic low of 37 million hl (-18% on last year).
Meanwhile, production in Italy is set to fall to 40 million hl (-26%), and 36 million hl in Spain (-20%). Portugal was the only country to have seen a rise on last year's levels, with growth of around 10%.
Wine Trends
In spite of these declines, the Copa-Cogeca says that the quality of the grape is expected to be very good across Europe. Prices are also likely to rise, but not enough to compensate some producers for their losses.
Several other groups have anticipated these production declines in Europe over the past few months, due to factors such as frost, drought, and hail.
Meanwhile, in the US, some of the most iconic wine regions in California have been hit by recent wild fire, causing damage to grape harvests.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
