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Nothing to toast as Italy loses wine-making leadership to France
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ROME (Reuters) – Wine output in Italy looks set to fall 12% this year to below 44 million hectolitres after extreme weather and fungal diseases severely hit vineyards, Italian wine lobbies UIV and Assoenologi said on Tuesday.
ROME (Reuters) – Wine output in Italy looks set to fall 12% this year to below 44 million hectolitres after extreme weather and fungal diseases severely hit vineyards, Italian wine lobbies UIV and Assoenologi said on Tuesday.
The tumble means Italy will lose its position as the world’s largest wine producer, with France set to reclaim the number one spot for the first time in nine years.
In a joint statement with food and agriculture institute ISMEA, the lobbies said that northern Italian regions were set to register a small 0.8% growth in output.
However, production was expected to slump around 20% in central regions and about 30% in the south, hit by a combination of bad weather and the impact of a fungus called plasmopara viticola, harvest forecast data showed.
The fungus, which attacks grapevines’ leaves and fruits, causes a disease named grape downy mildew.
“The harvest we are facing is very complex, characterized above all by the effects of climate change which at the end of spring and beginning of summer caused pathogenic diseases such as downy mildew, floods, hailstorms, and drought,” said Riccardo Cotarella, head of an association of wine experts, Assoenologi.
However, the quality of the wine would not be compromised, Cotarella predicted. “From the 2023 harvest we will certainly obtain good quality wines, with peaks of excellence,” he said.
The decline in output should not cause alarm either, with existing stocks standing at more than 49 million hectolitres, the highest level for the last six years, said Livio Proietti, ISMEA’s extraordinary commissioner.
“The issue is not so much the loss of Italian leadership in terms of volumes produced, but rather the slowdown in domestic and foreign demand, which is lowering prices,” said Proietti.
A hectolitre is the equivalent of 100 litres, or 133 standard wine bottles.
(Reporting by Federica Urso and Romolo Tosiani; editing by Federico Maccioni/Keith Weir)
Grape downy mildew is a disease caused by the fungus plasmopara viticola, which attacks grapevines' leaves and fruits, leading to significant crop losses in vineyards.
Wine production is the process of fermenting grapes to produce wine. It involves various stages including harvesting, crushing, fermentation, and aging.
A hectolitre is a metric unit of volume equal to 100 litres, commonly used in the wine industry to measure production output.
Italian wine lobbies, such as UIV and Assoenologi, are organizations that represent the interests of wine producers and promote the quality and reputation of Italian wines.
Climate change refers to significant changes in global temperatures and weather patterns over time, which can impact agricultural production, including wine production.
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