EU-27 Annual Wine Report 2009; Consumption to Fall Due to Economic Downturn(2)

The European Union continues to be the world leader in terms of vine growing area (almost
half of the total) and wine production volume (about two thirds of the overall world crop, on
average). Within the EU, the production of France, Italy and Spain represents, on average,
75 to 80 percent of the total. Other important producers include Germany, Portugal,
Romania, Greece and Hungary, but the wine sector also has a considerable role in other
countries, such as Austria, Bulgaria and Slovenia. There is also production in the Czech
Republic, Slovakia, Cyprus and Luxembourg, however it is minor when compared to the
overall production. The following table shows production trends in the leading EU wine
producing countries during the most recent years.
WINE PRODUCTION TREND IN SELECTED EU COUNTRIES
(1,000 HECTOLITERS)
2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08
France 55,389 50,352 46,360 57,386 52,105 53,025 46,548
Italy 52,293 44,604 44,087 53,135 50,462 49,633 42,514
Spain 30,547 33,578 41,843 43,168 36,158 38,290 36,781
Germany 8,980 9,984 8,191 10,107 9,256 9,000 10,261
Portugal 7,790 6,677 7,283 7,481 7,254 7,532 6,049
Greece 3,475 3,095 3,804 4,282 3,989 3,899 3,487
Romania 5,090 5,461 5,555 6,166 2,602 5,014 5,215
Hungary 5,450 3,500 3,900 5,272 3,103 3,144 3,168
Source: EU Commission and FAS Europe Offices
Total EU-27 wine production in 2008/09 is still preliminarily estimated at 160.2 MHL, or 1
percent less than in 2007/08. White there were limited crop increases in Italy, Germany,
Greece, Austria, Hungary and Romania, those gains were almost completely offset by
reductions due to adverse weather mainly in France, and Spain. According to OIV, the above
volume is the lowest since 1991.
The latest estimates confirm that in the current marketing year, Italy has become the
leading wine producer in the world, although this is ma inly due to the continued crop
declines reported in France, rather than an actual increasing trend. Italian wine production
in 2008/09 reached 45.5 MHL, or 7 percent more than the extremely poor 2007/08 crop.
However, while expectations are for a much larger figure, more in line with production
potential of this country, unfavorable weather has severely affected wine production. This
has been especially true in northern Italy, with a peak in Piedmont, where the continued
rainy and cold conditions reported during last May and June, often accompanied by hail
storms and strong winds, caused a production drop of over 15 percent from the previous
year. Other major reductions are reported in most of the north, although with some
important exceptions. On the contrary, in central and southern Italy wine production has
substantially recovered after the very poor 1997 vintage.
Over 30 percent of Italy’s wine production is represented by Controlled Appellation wines,
and most of them are produced in northern and, to a lesser extent, central regions. The bulk
of the wine produced in the south is still primarily table wine. On average, about half of
Italian wines are white, and the remaining half are red, with a small amount of rosé. Italian
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UNCLASSIFIED USDA Foreign Agricultural Service
production area continues to decline, although at a much lower rate than in past decades. In
2007/08, production area was officially reported at 712,000 hectares, or less than half of the
area in the early 80’s.