Wine Output Rebounds in 2018 From Two-Decade Low Tied to Weather

(Bloomberg) -- World wine production is expected to jump 12 percent this year, a rebound from 2017 when bad weather sent output slumping to the lowest in more than two decades, according to an intergovernmental wine group.

Global wine production is expected to climb to 282 million hectoliters in 2018, an increase equivalent to about 4.1 billion bottles, the Paris-based International Organisation for Vine & Wine said on Friday. Output recovered for top producers Italy, France and Spain, the group said.

“In the main European producing countries, estimates for the 2018 harvest are higher,” according to the organization, known by its French acronym OIV. “Portugal and Greece were the only countries to see a reduced harvest compared with their 2017 volumes.”

The outlook for larger volumes is already taking the edge off wine prices in France, with average October prices for bulk red wine without mention of grape variety falling to 86 cents a liter from 1.03 euros in July, according to data from local crop office FranceAgriMer.

Italy is expected to keep its spot as the world’s biggest wine producer in 2018, with volumes rising 14 percent to 48.5 million hectoliters, while France remains the runner up, even as production there jumps 27 percent to 46.4 million hectoliters. In Spain, the volume of the 2018 vintage is forecast to rise 26 percent to 40.9 million hectoliters.

U.S. production is expected to increase 2 percent to 23.9 million hectoliters, the OIV said, citing data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The country is the world’s fourth-biggest wine producer.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Kingdon at ckingdon@bloomberg.net, Phil Serafino, Frank Connelly

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