The coronavirus pandemic is making waves in wine consumption. Repeated closings of bars and restaurants, muted events, limitation of tourism have shaken up habits. As a result, the volumes of wine drunk to the four corners of the planet have experienced a decline of 3% in 2020, according to data published on Tuesday, April 20, by the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV). They reached the lowest level since 2002, with an estimate of 234 million hectoliters.
The OIV stresses that such a stall had not been observed since the financial crisis of 2008. Even if the organization highlights the uncertainties related to these estimates, made in troubled times, it attributes the prize for the trend reversal. to China. In the former Middle Kingdom, wine consumption plunged by 17% in 2020, which now ranks it sixth in the world among countries adept at the bottle. The Spaniards have also shown temperance with a decline of 6.8%. Conversely, the Italians increased the dose by 7.5%. To the point that Italy is now on the heels of France, ready to compete for the place of the second largest consumer country. Especially since, in France, as in the United States, a leading country, the number of sealed glasses has remained stable.
European dynamism
On the harvest side, the OIV estimates that the world’s vines produced 258 million hectoliters in 2020, a slight increase of 1%. The surprise came from the usual top three, made up of Italy, France and Spain. Its bottling increased by 8%, to 165 million hectoliters, offering a rebound after a rather meager 2019 harvest. The wine triplet alone weighs 53% of global volumes. The weather particularly favored Spain, whose volumes jumped 21%. But also France with a production of 46.6 million hectoliters, up 11%. This result is all the more striking given that the French wine industry had asked to distill part of its wines to reduce stocks in times of pandemic and that Champagne had reduced its harvest by 20%.
The fires that devoured California did not spare the vineyards
This European dynamism contrasts with the gloom of other continents. The United States, in particular, concedes an 11% drop in production to 22.8 million hectoliters, compared to 2019. The fires that devoured California did not spare the vineyards. Argentina, Chile, not to mention Australia, are also looking gloomy with sharply declining harvest levels. But the biggest decline is to be blamed on China. It only squeezed 6.6 million hectoliters, or 16% less than in 2019. The OIV wonders about the difficulties encountered by this country in developing wine activity.
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