Spanish wine exports are estimated to have reached 16.5 million hectolitres in 2008, with a global market share of 19 percent whereas France could export only 13.6 million hectolitres. Italy was second with 17.2 million hectolitres. Last year, Spain could export only worth 15.1 million hectolitres compared to 15.2 millions for France.
One reason for the lower French export has been poor yielding harvests in the recent years, with last year being the worst since 1991, according to the OIV Director General Federico Castellucci. France has also reduced its production drastically during the last two years because of widely followed "vine grubbing," and replacing them with other crops because of falling grape prices and incentives offered by EU.
Global wine production is at "relatively low levels" after the surface area covered with vines decreased by about 28,000 hAs in 2008 to a total of 7.86 million hAs. In Europe alone, the amount of vineyards shrank by a record 33,000 hAs- with France alone accounting for 15,000 hAs, to 3.82 million hAs. Increased plantings in areas like South America and New Zealand were offset by the ripping out of vines in the Old World.
The European Union now has less than half of the world's vineyards, compared with 60 to 65 percent only 20 years ago, Castellucci reportedly said according to a report in Reuters.
Global wine consumption, affected by the economic crisis, is estimated to have dropped by 0.8 percent last year, about 2 million hectolitres, due to a further decrease in the traditional European countries, France, Italy, Spain and Germany that produce and consume wine, according to OIV.
'It is obvious that the world economic crisis has played a role in lowering overall demand,' said Federico Castellucci. But global sales by volume and production had still increased during the year, he added.
It has been reported by delWine earlier that the U.S. domestic market became the biggest consumer of wine, surpassing the size of the domestic market in Italy. About 27.3 million hectolitres were sold in 2008, compared with 26 million in Italy, according to OIV estimates.
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