After the olive oil hit record prices, it is the turn of Greek wine to join the chain of price hikes and follow the same course. Production has dramatically dropped, costs are rising and price increases at the shelf seem inevitable, media report in the last 24 hours
Producers say that costs have risen dramatically and the quantities available are less than ever in recent years. These two factors point to what is yet to come regarding the prices of white, red and rose nectar.
The International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) speaks about an important problem faced by Greece, Spain and Italy.
According to OIV, the outlook for the wine production in Greece is bleak, point to a 45% plunge in production in the 2023 season.
This is a new shock for producers as well as for consumers, which creates conditions for less market adequacy and higher prices, either due to real conditions or due to speculation.
It is indicative that the reduction in olive oil production this year has already increased prices early, with a large part of the producers interested in exporting their product to get more money.
The main factor for the reduction in Greece and globally is climate change and diseases, according to the OIV.
Especially for Greece, however, domestic market factors also attribute the large reduction to high production costs and the lack of labor for harvesting and processing.
It is indicative that last year there were areas in Greece where large quantities of grapes were not harvested in many vineyards because there were not enough workers.
For 2023, the OIV predicts that in Greece wine production will reach just 1.1 million hectoliters (mhl) from 2.1 million hectoliters in 2022.
One hectoliter corresponds to 133 bottles of wine. One of the countries showing the largest negative variation compared to 2022 is Greece, with an expected wine production of 1.1 mhl in 2023.
This volume represents a significant decrease not only from last year (-45%) but also from the average term of the last five years (-50%).
This can be attributed to the heavy rains during the spring that caused grape diseases – mainly downy mildew – and to high temperatures and drought in the summer months that strongly affected the vines in the country’s OIV said in data presented by Greek newspaper oikonomikos taxydromos.
Yesterday on TV I heard a producer speaking of a price increased of 4-5 euros per bottle.
PS why should the price for a red wine bottled 5 years ago go up?