Bottling LIne
The International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) is predicting the worst year for wine production in half a century.
The OIV says extreme weather events in Western Europe are the primary cause of the drastic decline, with disastrous numbers seen in the world’s three largest wine producers.
Italy’s wine production will fall by a shocking 23 per cent this year. Production in France will decline by an estimated 19 per cent, and Spain by 15 per cent.
Those three countries typically produce up to one-half of all the wine in the world market.
Germany also suffered from poor weather and its production is down by 10 per cent.
The United States was expected to bring in another very large crop this year, but the OIV says the recent fires in Napa and Sonoma may drive down global production figures even further.
There was some good news; Argentina recovered after a couple of terrible years with production up by a full 25 per cent, and Australia had another bumper crop.
But, combined with the fires in California, the overall production globally looks grim, with declines of between eight to 10 per cent.
Some analysts have said changes in climate due to global warming may benefit producers in areas like Canada, but at the expense of the producers in traditional European countries.
Cornell University’s Justine Vanden Heuvel told CTV News Channel that climate change is causing heat spikes that push alcohol levels too high, while also causing hail and droughts.
She adds that French wines like Burgundy, Bordeaux and Champagne have been particularly hard hit by recent climatic changes.
But the climate may have improved for winemakers in other regions, particularly those in cooler climates like Canada.
“I think there are people who would argue that Ontario and British Columbia have probably benefited from some of the increased heat spikes in the last few years,” Vanden Heuvel said.