According to first estimates, France should once again become the world’s leading wine producer in 2023, ahead of Italy, which has held first place since 2015. A “symbolic” result and mainly linked to a less abundant harvest in Italy, according to was estimated this Monday. from a sector specialist.
French wine production “would be equivalent (this year) to 46 million hectoliters, that is, a level comparable to that of 2022 and 3% higher than the 2018-2022 average,” the statistical service of the French Ministry of Agriculture indicated on Friday. , Agreste, based on estimates established as of October 1. Italian production should fall to about 43 million hectoliters, compared to 50 million the previous year, the main Italian agricultural organization, Coldiretti, reported in a press release on October 2.
“It is a notable event because it is symbolic,” Jean-Marie Cardebat, a specialist in wine economics at the University of Bordeaux, told AFP. Since 2007, apart from 2011 and 2014, Italy has in fact maintained the position of the world’s leading wine producer, according to figures from the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV). “But it is purely cyclical,” since Italian vineyards have been especially attacked this year by mildew, the economist added.
“The situation of the different vineyards is contrasting”
The main Italian agricultural union, Coldiretti, for its part, evokes a “complex season from a meteorological point of view that, between bad weather and heat waves, has reduced estimated national production by around 14%, with falls of up to 50% in the central south. Coldiretti still expected an improvement at the beginning of October, considering that the “temperate and dry” climate favored the quality of the harvest “thanks to the absence of humidity and the high temperature oscillation between day and night.” evening”.
On the French side, “the situation of the different vineyards is contrasting,” Agreste stressed. Production “is reduced in Bordeaux and in the southwest due to mildew and heat waves, and in Languedoc and Roussillon due to drought,” the organization notes. “In other places the situation is favorable, especially in Charentes.”
While global demand for wine has also “co-existed, especially in China”, the decline in Italian production “is good news” as it should ease pressure on prices, said Jean-Pierre Marie Cardebat.
Source: BFM TV
