NEWS ABOUT THE EUROPEAN HARVESTS

This year the harvests started earlier than usual in most of the European vineyards.

The quality of the wine is expected to be excellent due to the long heat wave in Europe this summer.

In France, the harvests started at the end of August in southern regions and quickly spread across the whole country which was unusual for the Beaujolais and Burgundy regions. The volume is estimated at 46.5 MHL on a par with 2014. Northern vineyards should produce less, in Alsace -2%, Beaujolais -25%, Burgundy -11% and Champagne -11% while the Southern ones should produce higher volumes such as the Languedoc region +6%.

Germany also started earlier and may have lower volume than last year following a summer drought, it should be less than the ten-year average which amounts to 9.1 MHL

Italy should be good in both quality and quantity, especially for red wines. The total harvests should amount to 46.3 MHL. Except Tuscany which will be down by 5%, all other major vineyards in Italy should increase : +5% Abruzzo and Emilia Romagna, +10% Friuli VG, Piedmont, Sicily and Veneto, +15% Lazio Umbria and +25% Puglia.

Spain should also record a good year for quality but maybe less in quantity after the summer heat wave. The total production should not go over 44 MHL like the year before. The reduction is mainly in Ribera del Duero, Extremadura and Valenciana while Rioja, Galicia, Aragon, Cataluna and Navarra enjoy more volume.

More to follow