EU wine grape meets the lowest output in 50 years

Wine is a delicate business. Grape production and quality are the basis of the wine business. In 2012, due to successive droughts, frosts and hailstorms, the European Union’s production of wine grapes was hit hard. Wine merchants said that the production of grapes in some major producing areas may create the lowest record in half a century.

Thierry Coste, an expert from the European Union farmers' union, said that as of Wednesday, the French grape production is expected to drop by 20% from last year. Italy's grape production fell 7% year-on-year, which is still more severe than the 2011 decline in production. “As the two major wine producing countries of the EU, France and Italy experienced the lowest grape production in nearly four or fifty years. This is also true of other major wine producing countries.”

The drought-prone weather in the southern producing areas of the vineyards is more severe in winter. The opposite is true in the northern regions and is often attacked by mild wet weather. Hail damage to crops is particularly serious.

Champagne and Burgundy are affected by the weather, especially Chardonnay grapes. According to the data, the Champagne region harvests or cuts production by 40%, and Burgundy's Beaujolais region is expected to reduce production by 30%. Coste believes that Sion’s unfamiliarity is not a good thing. Perhaps the quality of 2012 wines is good.

Coste said, "The profits of wine producers in some producing areas have been reduced, and some wine producers are facing bankruptcy."

European wine production accounts for 62% of the world's total production. Therefore, the reduction of European wine grape production will naturally affect the global wine production.

This year's grape prices may rise, Coste hopes to control this.