PARIS — South Africa is set for a steep decline in wine production in 2018 as the country grapples with a water crisis ravaging Cape Town and surrounding areas, a Paris-based global organization said Tuesday.
Africa’s top wine producer is set to produce 8.6 million hectoliters (hl) of wine this year, down 20.4% down from 2017, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) said in a statement.
The Western Cape region has gone without significant rains for more than three years, forcing South Africa’s second city to slash residential water consumption.
While cautiously welcoming the water shortage’s impact on improved grape flavors, South African wine makers have been struggling with the drought, which has sown panic across the Cape Town area.
More broadly, overall production in the southern hemisphere is set to remain stable at around 52 million hl — only a marginal change from last year.
Argentina, the world’s sixth-biggest producer, will see its production rise 14.2% to 13.5 million hl.
In Chile, also a rising star in the world of wine, is set to see a 19% rise to 11.3 million hl.
Australia, the world’s fifth producer, will however see its production dip 8.7% to 12.5 million hl.
The OIV, meanwhile, confirmed a historic drop in production triggered by unusually long winters in the world’s top three wine makers — Italy, France, and Spain.
But in more positive news, in a sign that wine lovers may have finally put the global financial crisis behind them, global consumption stabilized in 2017 at 243 million hl.
“The downturn in the consumption of historic consumer countries — France, Italy, and Spain — appears to have stabilized, while the consumption of the United States, China, and Australia continued to increase,” the OIV said in a statement. — AFP

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