Copa-Cogeca, the association of European farmers and cooperatives, anticipates a total harvest volume of just over 150m hectolitres (hl) of wine, which is 5.5% below the average of the last five years.
During their autumn press conference, the association noted that major wine-producing countries are experiencing varied yields. Italy’s production has decreased by 11.9%, yielding 43.9m hectolitres, and Spain’s by 14.4%, with 30.8m hectolitres, both showing a reduction from the previous year's harvest. Germany’s yield, while down by 2.1%, is still consistent with the five-year average, coming in at 8.86m hectolitres. On the other hand, France and Portugal have seen growth in their wine production; France has a slight increase of 1.47% at 45m hectolitres, and Portugal enjoys a more substantial rise of 8.06%, reaching nearly 10m hectolitres. The figures presented by Copa-Cogeca are in general agreement with the individual harvest reports from these countries and with the data released by the EU Commission.
Eastern Europe struggles
Eastern Europe, due to severe weather conditions, is uniformly seeing harvest losses. Austria, where the South Styria region was particularly affected, reports a decrease of 6%. Higher percentage losses are reported from Greece (-23%), Croatia (-31%), and Slovakia (-20%).
"For several years now, the sector has been facing major challenges, not least the consequences of the Covid pandemic, climatic events, and a significant increase in production costs, which is further exacerbated by a marked rise in interest rates. Nonetheless, European producers continue to demonstrate their efficiency and resilience," said Luca Rigotti, Chairman of the Copa-Cogeca Wine Working Group.
