There has been a slight improvement in wine production after the disastrous 2024 harvest, the industry’s international federation said on Wednesday.
However, this is still 7% below the five-year average as winemakers grapple with the effects of climate change on their highly fragile crops.
The 2025 harvest will contain about 232 million hectoliters (about 6.1 billion gallons) of wine, up 3% from 2024, which saw the worst production since 1961.
In a statement, the International Organization of Wine and Vines (OIV) said the projections for 2025 are in line with “a period of continually declining global supply, influenced by climate challenges and evolving consumption models”.
EU producers bear the brunt of climate change
The OIV has representatives from 29 countries, accounting for 85% of global wine production.
For example, major wine producers such as France and Spain recorded very low production because their wine producing regions have become too hot to produce quality grapes. The European Union traditionally represents about 60% of global wine production.
In the United States, there was only a “partial improvement” by 2024.
In the Southern Hemisphere the situation was slightly better, with more significant improvements in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. However, heat waves in Chile negatively impacted that country’s harvest.
John Barker, director general of the OIV, said that in addition to climate change, winemakers need to accept that people are drinking less wine than in previous decades, and that the period of high consumption is probably over.
However, Barker saw the latter as a good thing as it created “greater balance between global supply and demand” and “stronger export pricing”.
Edited by Shawn Sinico