ROME, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A hot summer and the coronavirus pandemic are combining to push Italy from its perch as the world's biggest producer of wine, as Italy is estimated to be overtaken by France this year.
According to the estimates from the National Confederation of Farmers (Coldiretti), a leading agricultural association, Italian winemakers are on pace to produce between 43 and 44 million hectoliters of wine this year, around 5 percent lower than in 2019. And that means Italy will almost surely be the world's second-leading producer of wine for the first time in four years, behind France. According to estimates by France's Ministry of Agriculture, France will produce between 44.7 and 45.7 million hectoliters of wine this year.
A hectoliter, the standard unit for measuring wine production volumes, is the equivalent of 100 liters.
According to Domenico Bosco, head of the wine division for Coldiretti, the main culprits for the lower production levels are an unusually hot and dry summer that has kept yields low and the impacts of the global coronavirus outbreak, which made many winemakers hard to find the seasonal workers they need.
"Circumstances have made 2020 a challenging year," Bosco told Xinhua. "Last year was even hotter overall, but this year is more difficult."
Bosco said the hot weather has moved up the date grapes are picked, noting that Franciacorta, the northern wine region that specializes in sparkling wine, and some parts of Sicily, started to pick their grapes in the first days of August -- unusually early. A shortage of workers could mean that in many places crew sizes will be reduced and that actual grape picking will take longer to complete.
But the wine news is not all bad. Bosco and other key industry figures say that despite the challenges of this year, the quality of the grapes across most of the country likely means 2020 will be a strong vintage since dry weather often produces more concentrated grape juice and higher quality wine.
"The grape quality is better than the average from the last few vintages and the last few vintages have been pretty good," Federico Castelluccio, president of National Federation of Wine Producers, a division of the agricultural group Confagricoltura, said in an interview. "But we won't see a rebound in sales until growing markets for Italian wine such as China and the United States strengthen."
According to Tim Manning, a Tuscany-based oenologist and wine consultant, the evolution of expertise and technology have helped modern winemakers overcome difficulties that would have been more problematic a generation ago.
"We know how to handle difficult situations better now," Manning told Xinhua. "Alcohol levels have increased over the last few years and we may pick the grapes earlier. But those aren't bad things. We still have good years and bad years, but the average year is getting better over time." Enditem
