Wine prices in Greece will rise due to… climate change

Following record prices for olives, it is the turn of Greek wine, which will also rise in price along with other food products. Production has dropped sharply, costs are rising, and higher shelf prices seem inevitable…

Manufacturers say costs have risen sharply and production volumes are lower than at any time in recent years. These two factors indicate that prices for white, red and rose wine will increase significantly in the near future.

The International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) talks about an important problem facing Greece, Spain and Italy. According to the OIV, the outlook for wine production in Greece is bleak, with production expected to decline by 45% in the 2023 season. This is a new shock for both producers and consumers, which creates conditions for a decrease in the adequacy of the market and rising prices both due to real conditions and due to speculation.

Significantly, the decline in olive oil production this year has already led to an early rise in prices, with a significant proportion of producers interested in exporting their products to make more money.

According to the OIV, the main factors behind the decline in production in Greece and the world are climate change and disease. However, especially for Greece, domestic market factors also explain the significant reduction due to high production costs and shortage of labor for harvesting and processing of crops. It is significant that last year there were areas in Greece where many vineyards a large number of grapes were not harvested due to a lack of labor.

OIV forecasts that Greece’s wine production will be just 1.1 million hectoliters (mhl) in 2023, down from 2.1 million hectoliters in 2022. One hectoliter corresponds to 133 bottles of wine (0.7 l). This volume represents a significant decline not only from last year (-45%) but also from the average over the past five years (-50%).

This can be explained by heavy rains in the spring, which caused grape diseases, mainly downy mildew, as well as high temperatures and drought in the summer months, which greatly affected the condition of the country’s vines, according to OIV data provided by the Greek newspaper oikonomikos taxydromos. Yesterday on TV I heard one of the producers talk about raising prices by 4-5 euros per bottle.

PS I wonder why the price of red wine bottled 5 years ago should increase?

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