Glass half-empty? World wine output falling to lowest since 1961
The last of the summer wine has yet to be poured in some places, but already the main international producers' body is warning that global wine production could fall to its lowest level in over five decades.
Erratic weather in Spain and Italy, the world’s two biggest producer countries, caused smaller grape harvests after downy mildew and droughts, the International Organisation of Wine and Vine (OIV) said.
Burgundy trade organisation Vins de Bourgogne (BIVB) in the meantime said the year's harvest was turning out bigger than expected, but the OIV warned that above-average overall wine outputs from France, Germany, New Zealand, Portugal and the US would not offset drops caused by "extreme climatic conditions" in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile and South Africa.
"Based on the information collected on twenty-nine countries, which account for 94% of the global production in 2022, world wine production (excluding juices and musts) in 2023 is estimated between 241.7 mhl [millions of hectoliters] and 246.6 mhl, with a mid-range estimate at 244.1 mhl," the OIV, an inter-governmental body, announced.
The mid-range forecast would represent a drop of 7% on 2022, but the OIV at the same time cautioned that final tally for the year could not be predicted with certainty, saying "there are still large countries like China, whose information is not available yet."
But falling output could mean the glass - for this shrinking market at least - is half-full: "In a context where global consumption is declining and stocks are high in many regions of the world, the expected low production could bring equilibrium to the world market," the OIV said.
