Europe hopes to regain ground lost to its main competitors: Argentina, Australia, Chile and the US
As the wine harvest nears its end, Europe's wine growers seem pleased with this year's vintage. According to figures published by the International Organisation of Wine and Vine (OIV), production in the 28 countries of the European Union is set to rise by almost 11% in 2013, touching 164m hectolitres (hl).
After a bad patch in 2012 output is back to the level of 2009. Italy is still the world's top wine producer, ahead of France, with output close to 45m hl, up 2%.
After a particularly poor performance last year, volume is rising again in France (up 7%), totalling 44m hl. But it is still well below its 2011 record, when it outdid Italy.
In third place, Spain has registered the biggest increase, with output soaring by 23% this year to reach 40m hl.
These three countries account for 45% of global production, which the OIV puts at 281m hl, and two-thirds of the EU total.
The most recent member of the EU, Croatia (which joined in June 2013), contributed 1.4m hl to the overall figure. Among the other former eastern bloc countries, Romania and Hungary both did well, and output in Germany (9m hl) was steady.
This satisfactory showing in Europe should be seen in the context of a continuing decline in the area of land occupied by vineyards, though, according to the OIV, the drop was only half that of 2012. Brussels stopped subsidising the uprooting of surplus vines in 2011, following the destruction of 270,000 hectares of vine across the EU.
There are also striking contrasts between regions, even between neighbouring regions. Conditions in France varied a great deal, for instance. Spring came late, which in turn delayed the harvest. Some growers were hard hit by freak weather events.
Hail devastated precious crus in Burgundy and Bordeaux, a severe blow to areas that play a leading role in French exports, after a record year in 2012 worth €7.6bn ($10bn).
Europe hopes to regain ground lost to its main competitors: Argentina, Australia, Chile and above all the United States, ranked fourth worldwide with 22m hl this year, up 7%.
But the European wine industry is worried about changes in the rules governing world trade. It fears that talks on the EU-US free-trade agreement may call into question the protected geographical indication system (which replaced the Appellation Contrôlée), a key component in promoting its wines.
It is also concerned about the outcome of the anti-dumping investigation launched by the Chinese authorities. Although the US is still the largest market for European wines, China has seen the biggest growth in sales in recent years.
This article appeared in Guardian Weekly, which incorporates material from Le Monde Reported by guardian.co.uk 6 hours ago.
As the wine harvest nears its end, Europe's wine growers seem pleased with this year's vintage. According to figures published by the International Organisation of Wine and Vine (OIV), production in the 28 countries of the European Union is set to rise by almost 11% in 2013, touching 164m hectolitres (hl).
After a bad patch in 2012 output is back to the level of 2009. Italy is still the world's top wine producer, ahead of France, with output close to 45m hl, up 2%.
After a particularly poor performance last year, volume is rising again in France (up 7%), totalling 44m hl. But it is still well below its 2011 record, when it outdid Italy.
In third place, Spain has registered the biggest increase, with output soaring by 23% this year to reach 40m hl.
These three countries account for 45% of global production, which the OIV puts at 281m hl, and two-thirds of the EU total.
The most recent member of the EU, Croatia (which joined in June 2013), contributed 1.4m hl to the overall figure. Among the other former eastern bloc countries, Romania and Hungary both did well, and output in Germany (9m hl) was steady.
This satisfactory showing in Europe should be seen in the context of a continuing decline in the area of land occupied by vineyards, though, according to the OIV, the drop was only half that of 2012. Brussels stopped subsidising the uprooting of surplus vines in 2011, following the destruction of 270,000 hectares of vine across the EU.
There are also striking contrasts between regions, even between neighbouring regions. Conditions in France varied a great deal, for instance. Spring came late, which in turn delayed the harvest. Some growers were hard hit by freak weather events.
Hail devastated precious crus in Burgundy and Bordeaux, a severe blow to areas that play a leading role in French exports, after a record year in 2012 worth €7.6bn ($10bn).
Europe hopes to regain ground lost to its main competitors: Argentina, Australia, Chile and above all the United States, ranked fourth worldwide with 22m hl this year, up 7%.
But the European wine industry is worried about changes in the rules governing world trade. It fears that talks on the EU-US free-trade agreement may call into question the protected geographical indication system (which replaced the Appellation Contrôlée), a key component in promoting its wines.
It is also concerned about the outcome of the anti-dumping investigation launched by the Chinese authorities. Although the US is still the largest market for European wines, China has seen the biggest growth in sales in recent years.
This article appeared in Guardian Weekly, which incorporates material from Le Monde Reported by guardian.co.uk 6 hours ago.