Brussels, 20/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - The latest estimates from Copa-Cogeca for the 2014 wine harvest in the EU, published on Friday 17 October, reveal a 9.9% slump in production on the 2013 levels.
Thierry Coste, head of the Copa-Cogeca wine working group, told reporters that while this would not be a bumper year, there would not be a shortage of wine and it would be of high quality.
Production volumes. The 2014/2015 harvest is expected to total 157.7 million hectolitres (hl), 9.9% down on the 2013/2014 harvest, but 5% more than the particularly low figures for 2012/2013. France is expected to produce nearly 45 millions hl, Italy and Spain around 41 million hl each, Germany 9.5 million hl, Portugal just under 6 million hl and Romania just over 4 million hl.
Stocks are rather low both at vineyards and in the trade, explained Coste, saying that this suggests a 'firm' market. Due to the differing harvest figures from one region to another, prices may rise in some areas.
High quality. Thierry Coste pointed out that the climate is changing, with ever more frequent extremes (drought, rain, storms, hail and the like) which affect the harvest, but quality has not deteriorated. European wine production is high-tech, he explained, with very highly trained wine-makers and wine experts. The 2014 harvest in Europe will be on a par with the 2014 harvest in the southern hemispehre and wine-making regions outside the EU, but the EU produces finer and fresher wines than elsewhere in the world.
Planting rights. Copa-Cogeca notes the importance of regulating vine planting rights for all types of wines in order to ensure a balanced wine industry. The new EU authorisation system for vine planting is a step in the direction of a European wine-making model that will allow family-run vineyards to continue while breathing new life into the industry.
ICANN. Copa-Cogeca secretary general Pekka Pesonen pointed out that the EU is the world's biggest wine exporter. He said the EU is calling for protection on the internet because the free use of domain names such as dot.vin or dot.wine would lead to abuse of the EU geographical indications system and mislead consumers about products. Copa-Cogeca is calling on the Italian Presidency of the Council of the EU to take action to protect regional specialities and high-quality wines covered by geographical indications in its negotiations with ICANN, the US company that manages the granting of new domain names on the internet. (LC)