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France is expected to regain its position as the world's largest wine producer in 2023. Italy had held the spot since 2015. Despite an expected decline of three per cent compared to 2022 and the current problems with downy mildew in some areas, the harvest volume will be around 44.5 million hectolitres, according to forecasts by the statistics office. This means that France will overtake Italy with an expected 43 million hectolitres. The Italian agricultural organisation Coldiretti expects a 14 per cent decline after 50 million hectolitres in 2022. In some areas, especially in the centre and south of Italy, the losses are even up to 60 percent due to the infestation with peronospora. Coldiretti calls 2023 "one of the worst years in the history of Italian viticulture for a century, comparable to 1948, 2007 and 2017".
In Spain, according to forecasts by cooperatives, the harvest could be around 36 million hectolitres, down twelve per cent on the 41 million hectolitres in the previous year. Here, the extreme drought and heat are the reason for reduced harvest volumes, although the main variety Airén is said to have withstood the heat well. The high temperatures in Spain led to an earlier start to the harvest than usual. In the south of the country, vintners have already harvested two weeks earlier than usual.
From Portugal, on the other hand, there are estimates of an eight percent increase in production to 7.4 million hectolitres. According to the Instituto da Vinha e do Vinho (IVV), the Douro Valley contributes most to the increase with a plus of 146,000 hectolitres. In the small wine-growing region of the Azores, the percentage increase is even 165 percent. Despite isolated cases of powdery and downy mildew, the IVV reports that the grapes are generally in good health and expects a high-quality harvest.
(al / source: vitisphere)