World to produce the least wine in half a century this year, due to weather
Small harvests in Italy, France and Spain mean higher prices for bulk wines, making SA ‘more active’ this season
Paris— The world may produce the least wine this year in half a century, after small grape harvests in Italy, France and Spain, a global wine organisation said. This could mean higher prices for bulk and entry-level wines. The global 2017 vintage is estimated to slump 8.2% — equivalent to about 3-billion fewer bottles — to 246.7-million hectolitres, the Paris-based International Organisation of Vine and Wine said. This would be the lowest since 1961, according to Jean-Marie Aurand, the inter-governmental group’s director-general. "Logic dictates that for entry-level wine, there will be a bit more tension on prices," Aurand told reporters in Paris. "We’re past the time where we had structural over-production of wine; the market is more balanced." The group, known by its French acronym OIV, puts the value of the global wine industry at about ¤75bn ($88bn). Countries with large grape harvests, such as Australia and SA, will probably be more active in the wine trade this season, Aurand ...
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