Poggibonsi (Italy), 27 October 2020 – Vito Donatiello participated to the OIV (International Organization of Vine and Wine) web conference in which Director General Pau Roca presented the first estimates of 2020 world wine production.
Top 3 largest wine production countries
- Italy: 47.2 mhl
- France: 43.9 mhl
- Spain: 37.5 mhl
* These 3 countries together represent 49% of world-wide wine production
Highlights
- Lower than average production volume in the EU, where measures to reduce the harvest volume had a significant impact in Italy, France and Spain notwithstanding the overall favourable climatic conditions.
- First harvest forecasts in the US indicate volumes in line with 2019, but uncertainty caused by wildfires might lead to further revisions.
- Drop of South America’s wine production, especially in Argentina and Chile due to unfavourable weather conditions.
- South Africa finally back to “normality” after several years of drought.
- Australia records a low harvest due to bushfires while New Zealand shows a record harvest volume in 2020.
World Wine Production
2020 world wine production (excluding juices and musts) is estimated at 258 mhl, in line with the previous year (+1% compared to 2019).
After the exceptionally high production in 2018, for the second consecutive year global wine production is expected to be below average (last 5-years average being 268 mhl, last 20-years average being 270 mhl).
“This is not necessarily a bad news for the wine sector given the current context where geopolitical tensions, climate change and covid-19 pandemic are generating a high degree of uncertainty in the global wine market” said Director General.
Northern hemisphere
In the European Union good weather conditions favoured a potentially large 2020 harvest; but that has been limited by different measures at both, the government and producers’ association levels aiming at mitigating the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global wine market. In France, for example, champagne producers agreed to collect about 20% fewer grapes this year as they tried to recover from a collapse in sales caused by the coronavirus crisis.
In the USA, the forecast for wine production is at 24.7 mhl (+1% compared with 2019). This figure could be significantly revised in the coming months when more information on the real effects of the wildfires in Napa and Sonoma will be available. Furthermore, the oversupply issue that characterised the last few years might also play a role in wine production decisions.
At this time of the year, data on grapes harvest in China is not available. However, wine production is likely to continue the contraction that started in 2016 for structural reasons.
Southern hemisphere
In the Southern hemisphere, total 2020 output is estimated to fall by 8% from 2019 to 49 mhl.
South America is the region in the Southern Hemisphere that registers a sharper decrease with Argentina -17% and Chile -13% due to unfavourable climatic conditions.
In South Africa, where drought significantly impacted harvests in 2018 and 2019, wine production in 2020 is estimated at 10.4 mhl, thus back to normality.
In Oceania, Australia registers a strong decline in wine production in 2020, -11% compared to 2019, due to reduced production: drought and bushfires. In New Zealand, wine production shows an opposite trend with +11% respect to 2019.
Singapore, November 6th, 2023 – I attended a nice B2B wine tasting event organized by DealExport at 13% Wine Bistro in Singapore. The event showcased multiple French wineries looking for potential distributors in the Singapore market. Over 50 labels were available for sampling, but the highlight for me was the incredible Champagne flight featuring 19 different bubbly.
- Statistics are provisional, based on data provided by countries representing 84% of last year world wine production.
- Statistics are related only to wine production, excluding must and juice.
- Abbreviations used: “mhl” (millions of hectolitres, one hectolitre accounts for 133 standard bottles)
Singapore, November 6th, 2023 – I attended a nice B2B wine tasting event organized by DealExport at 13% Wine Bistro in Singapore. The event showcased multiple French wineries looking for potential distributors in the Singapore market. Over 50 labels were available for sampling, but the highlight for me was the incredible Champagne flight featuring 19 different bubbly.
Source: OIV – 2020 World Wine Production