World wine output to fall to lowest in 60 years

Red grapes are seen in a truck as a machine harvesting grapes drives through a vineyard during a night harvest in Valvigneres in the Ardeche department, France, August 23, 2023. [Clotaire Achi/Reuters]

World wine production is expected to fall to its lowest level in 60 years in 2023 due to poor harvests in the Southern Hemisphere and in some major European producers, including Greece, the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) has said.

In initial projections, the OIV pegged world wine output, excluding juices and musts, at between 241.7 million and 246.6 million hectolitres (mhl), with a mid-range estimate of 244.1 mhl.

This would be 7% lower than last year and the smallest since 1961 when it had fallen to 214 mhl, the OIV said. A hectolitre is the equivalent of 133 standard wine bottles.

"This negative scenario can be attributed to significant declines in major wine-producing countries in both Hemispheres," the OIV said in a statement.

"While in the Southern Hemisphere, Australia, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, and Brazil recorded year...

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