First of all a quick look at the 2019 harvest forecasts for main EU wine producers: extreme weather conditions of last summer had a huge impact, notably for Italy, where a decline of 10% in comparison with 2018 has been estimated. Same goes for France, with a wine output fall of an average of 12% in 2019, and Germany, where grape harvest this year won’t reach 9 million hectoliters. However, thanks to more favorable weather conditions of the last weeks, an overall good quality of grapes has been secured.
Climate change impacts are literally changing current and upcoming scenario for EU agriculture, especially for southern European regions. New adaptation measures are being proposed, in view of allowing a proper transition towards more resilient and sustainable agri-food systems.
In terms of wine market dynamics, the slowdown in Chinese wine imports continues to be significant, especially for EU countries’ sales of still wines (France being the most impacted).
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