Global: Drought and disease see wine production fall to 60-year low

Drought and disease have caused wine production to hit a 60-year low, although a reduced 2023 harvest could help alleviate oversupply due to falling consumption, says the OIV. According to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), based on the information from 29 countries – which account for 94% of global production – the amount of wine made in 2023 is believed to lie between 241.7mhl and 246.6mhl, with a mid-range estimate of 244.1mhl. This represents a 7% drop compared to the already below-average volume of 2022, and makes 2023 the smallest harvest since 1961, which amounted to 214mhl, said head of the OIV’s statistical department, Giorgio Delgrosso, yesterday. Speaking via a live link from the OIV’s headquarters in Dijon, Giorgio Delgrosso described the decline in global wine production as “significant”, stressing that this year’s harvest was “even lower than the historically low production of 2017” – when large swathes of Europe saw volumes decimated by severe ...