World wine production on the rise but uneven in 2020
Italy, France and Spain alone account for more than half of world wine production.
De Agostini via Getty Images - DEA / ALBERT CEOLAN
Text by: Agnieszka Kumor
5 mins
Global wine production is on the rise, but uneven from country to country.
Italy confirms its first place on the podium ahead of France and Spain.
Elsewhere in the world, weather issues have taken their toll on the harvest in the United States, South America and Australia.
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According to estimates from the International Organization of Vine and Wine (
OIV
), 260 million hectoliters of wine were produced in 2020, up 1% compared to 2019. An increase mainly due to the three producing countries - Italy (49.1 mln hl), France (46.6 mln hl) and Spain (40.7 mln hl) - which alone account for more than half of world wine production.
In these countries, the volumes and the good quality of the grapes harvested were at the rendezvous thanks to favorable climatic conditions at the decisive moments of the vegetative cycle of the vines.
The volumes and quality that characterize this 2020 vintage are tremendous news for French winegrowers, whose entire plots of vines were severely frozen in April.
The next harvest will inevitably take a hit.
Droughts and abundant rains
In the meantime, the climatic hazards observed all over the planet make the work of winegrowers more and more complex. Elsewhere in Europe, droughts caused production cuts in Portugal, Romania, Austria, Hungary and Greece. The ravages of water stress weighed significantly on production in Russia (-4%), Ukraine (-33%) and Moldova (-37%).
Also declining in wine production in the United States where dry winds caused wildfires on the West Coast, California and Oregon, leaving behind death and desolation just before the harvest.
Because of their smoky taste, the grapes collected were often unusable.
Fires also in
Australia,
which has recorded a third consecutive year of decline in production.
On the other hand, its New Zealand neighbor is reaching new heights with an 11% increase in its wine production.
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See also: A campaign to support Australian wine, undermined by Chinese surcharges
Unfavorable climatic conditions also observed in South America where the influence of El Niño, a climatic phenomenon corresponding to the accentuated warming of surface waters near the coasts, caused torrential rains and, consequently, decreases in production in Argentina, in Chile and Brazil.
On the other hand, a glimmer of hope for South Africa which is recovering from three consecutive years of devastating droughts (in 2016, 2017 and 2018).
Droughts which have reduced the South African vineyard by 8%, which has lost 10,000 hectares of vines.
South Africa produced 10.4 million hectoliters of wine, an increase of 7% in production in 2020.
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To listen and read also: South Africa, the other wine country
Chinese viticulture less competitive
Wine production in China is puzzling experts.
After good years of increased local production, and the rise in quality of Chinese wines often produced according to the Bordeaux model, Chinese production is falling for the fourth consecutive year (-16%, in 2020).
In question, the technical constraints and the drop in productivity due in particular to the very difficult climatic conditions with the low temperatures and the dry climate during the winter and at the beginning of the spring in most of the wine-producing regions such as in the north of China. (Hebei and Shandong) or the northwest (Ningxia and Xinjiang).
Persistent problems that make the Chinese wine industry less competitive with imported wines.
The market upset by the Covid, but resistant
The consumption of wine in the world fell by 3% in 2020. A decline marked by the significant drop in consumption in China (-17.4%), but less than feared by professionals in the sector in view of the scale of the Covid-19 crisis.
Thus, world wine trade fell by 1.7% in volume and 6.7% in value to reach 29.6 billion euros. Several factors are responsible for this decline, which was very marked at the start of the year and partially caught up in the second half of the year. Health restrictions due to Covid-19 with repeated confinements have led to the closure of various distribution channels such as hotels, cafes or restaurants (CHR), and have disrupted the tourism sector. Wine trade has also been disrupted by the
Trump taxes
that hit certain European wines, by Brexit or even by the anti-dumping measures imposed by China on Australian wines.
It is the sales of champagne that have been particularly penalized by the sanitary restrictions.
Conversely, wine sold in cardboard packaging has been on the rise.
Also, new distribution channels have emerged.
For example the online wine business has literally exploded.
But also “
the increase in wine sales in supermarkets has fairly well compensated for the closure of cafes and restaurants,
” concluded Pau Roca, the director general of the OIV.
In this sense, the wine market has shown great resilience in the face of the crisis.
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Read also: Coronavirus: the champagne sector calls on the government for help
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