Wine's world

2023/2024 Wine market outlook

26/03/2024

Agreste (French Ministry of Agriculture) has just published its annual report for 2023/2024, bearing in mind that the wine-growing year runs from August 1 to the following July 31.

Here are their statistics and observations for French wines with protected designation of origin (A.O.P.):

- 2023 production (19.4 Mhl) is identical to that of 2022 (19.6 Mhl) and to the 2018-2022 average (19.3 Mhl),

- producer stocks are up slightly (+2%),

- exports have been declining since August 2023, both in volume (-16%) and in value (-12%): China (-32% in value), Japan (-20%), United Kingdom (-11%), U.S.A. (-7%)...

- Producer prices are also falling: -13% compared to 2022, -9% compared to the 2018-2022 average (and without taking current inflation into account). This applies to all appellations except Champagne, where prices have risen by +10% (!).

Agreste offers several explanations for this worrying situation, while pointing out that it is nevertheless less unfavorable for A.O.P. wines than for others:

- the end of the post-Covid recovery dynamic that prevailed over the last two years,

- economic circumstances, notably inflationary pressures, affecting world trade (to which we add ongoing geopolitical events),

- a downward trend in consumption, as in France for example, of wines as opposed to other alcoholic beverages such as beer.

Winemaker of the year

24/01/2024

Like every year, La Revue du Vin de France rewards those who bring wine to life. This year it's Claire Villars Lurton who has been named 'Winemaker of the Year', for all her work and her commitment to biodynamic viticulture. At her Ferrière and Haut-Bages Libéral estates, she has been practising chemical-free viticulture for over 20 years, preferring to focus on improving biodiversity through minimum tillage, the use of plant cover and agroforestry. Well done!

More information

2023 harvest in France and worldwide

19/11/2023

With a production of 20 million hectoliters of appellation wines (AOP), the 2023 harvest in France was normally abundant, on a par with those of 2022, 2020 or 2018, but not all regions were on the same footing.

Comparison 2023/average 2018 to 2022, source French Ministry of Agriculture :

+ 63% in Jura, after an already abundant harvest in 2022 (+23%),
+ 52% in Champagne, where reserve stocks are planned to stabilize prices,
+ 20% in Burgundy-Beaujolais, volume comparable to 2018's record,
+15% in Val de Loire, a return to abundance after two weak years in 2021 and 2022,

• average (between +5% and -5%) in Corsica, Languedoc-Roussillon, Savoie, Rhône Valley and Provence,

- 16% in Bordeaux, due to mildew attacks in June and July,
- 29% in the South-West, where mildew, powdery mildew and drought were combined. The Cahors appellation was the worst affected, with barely half a harvest.

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Worldwide, production in 2023 was at its lowest level since 1961 (!), enabling France to regain its world leadership ahead of Italy, Spain and the U.S.A.

Comparison 2023/average 2018 to 2022, source I.O.V.M. on 29 countries except China (expected early 2024) :

+ 14% in New Zealand,
+ 12% in Portugal,
+ 9% in Russia,

• average (between +5% and -5%) in Romania, U.S.A., France and Germany,

- 8% in South Africa,
- 13% in Italy,
- 18% in Chile,
- 19% in Spain,
- 22% in Australia,
- 29% Argentina,
- 50% in Greece.