So far there has never been any shortage of wine in the world. Rather the opposite. For a long time there was a large surplus but since some years back this surplus is gone. Now the world makes about as much wine as it drinks. But this year the issue has become topical. The start of the harvest in Europe is just over a month away. We already know that it will be smaller than normal in many places because of the bad weather during the spring and early summer. First estimates show that the French harvest this year will be 44 million hectolitres, 8% down from 2015.
In the Southern hemisphere, however, the grapes are already safely inside the tanks and barrels. Also here the harvest has been unusually small in some countries. Argentina fell by 30% compared to 2015 due to the ravages of El Niño. In Chile El Niño caused violent rain storms in the spring. The result was 25% down compared to 2015. South Africa fared better with a decrease of 7%, and Australia and New Zealand both show an increase. Honestly I do not think there will be any shortage of wine. But the violent forces of the weather affect many wine producers hard. Read more on vitisphere.com.
