Wine production at a new low due to bad weather

World wine production this year will be the lowest in the past sixty years. The cause is the increasing extreme weather conditions, both in the southern and northern hemispheres. 

The International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) estimates that 244 million hectoliters of wine will be produced this year. That is 7 percent less than last year. Last year too, total production was lower than average.

The penultimate very weak year was 2017, when production amounted to 248 million hectoliters. The lowest level was 214 million hectoliters in 1961.

In the Southern Hemisphere, such as Australia, Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Brazil, grape harvests are ten to thirty percent smaller than normal.

In the European Union, Italy, Spain and Greece suffer the most from bad weather. France became the world's largest wine producer this year.

Only in the United States and New Zealand did production clearly exceed the average of the past five years. Germany, Portugal and Romania also did well.

In addition to drought, vineyards in several parts of the world have also been hit by early frosts and heavy rains.

The OIV says no shortage of wine is expected. Wine consumption in the world is declining, but stocks are large in many regions, so a weaker harvest will not have major consequences.