Quality over Quantity: Italian wine crop drops significantly due to extreme weather, crop disease

Wine producers across Italy have been battling extreme weather and an uptick in fungal diseases all season. The hit means France is set to reclaim its number-one wine-producing spot for the first time in almost a decade.

Italy has less to toast about when it comes to the wine crop this year. According to the latest harvesting update, Italian wine output is on track to drop 12 percent this year to below a billion gallons.

The steep decline in output is due to extreme weather in the region as well as an increase in fungal diseases. The hits to Italian producers likely mean France will once again reclaim its place as the number-one wine-producing region for the first time in almost a decade.

An association of wine experts says the quality of the wine produced in Italy though will not be impacted, and the drop shouldn’t cause any worry with the highest level in the last six years in existing stocks.

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