Italy becomes world’s largest wine producer

Italy has overtaken France to become the world’s largest wine producer for 2010 , according to data from the European Union.

Italian wine producers bottled 4.96 billion litres compared to France’s 4.62 billion. Production has been more stable in Italy while in France it has decreased by one per cent.

However, more worryingly for the French is the fact that Italian prosecco production now exceeds champagne at some 420 million litres compared to 400 million of champagne. Italian exports are also on the increase, up 15 per cent compared to last year. UK buys around 12 per cent of Italian wine, followed by Germany and the US.

Both Italy and France consistently produce far more than the third-biggest producer, Spain, who in turn produces far more than the fourth-biggest, which is the US.