Drink up, or start cellaring your wine, because the world’s wine supply is shrinking.
Last year, we warned you that a global wine shortage was coming and it was time to freak out. Unfortunately, that prediction rang true: According to the Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), a Paris-based, international wine organization, global wine output has dipped to a 60-year low, Reuters reports.
The OIV released data on Tuesday that says wine production reached a total of 250M hectoliters in 2017, a decrease of 8.6 percent over 2016. This is the lowest output the world has seen since 1957, when wine production fell to a mere 173.8M hectoliters. (One hectoliter equals 100 liters, or just over 133 75-cl bottles of wine.)
The decrease is due to harsh weather, including spring frosts, drought, and storms, which affected all top wine producers in the E.U., Reuters reports.
Spain was hit the hardest, with wine production down 20 percent at 32.1M hectoliters; followed by France, down 19 percent at 36.7M hectoliters; then Italy, down 17 percent at 42.5M hectoliters, according to the report.
U.S. wine production remained relatively stable, despite the California wildfires, confirming its position as the largest world wine consumer at 32.6M hectoliters, followed by runner-up, France at 27M. China was also stable, and Latin America was mixed, with Argentinian production up 25 percent, and Chile down 6 percent.
