France regained its seat as world’s top wine producer in 2014, trumping main competitor Italy, where producers had suffered a poor harvest, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) announced.

France, which was overtaken in production by Italy two years ago, produced 46.2 million hectolitres of wine this year, a rise of 10 per cent on last year, the OIV said.

This was nearly two million hectolitres above Italy’s production, which fell 15 per cent to 44.4 million hectolitres after unseasonably bad weather across much of its wine-producing territory hit its grape harvest.

Spain was this year’s third-largest wine producer with output at 37 million hectolitres, down 19 per cent from its record production of more than 45.6 million in 2013.

In the US, the world’s fourth-largest wine maker, output fell four per cent to 22.5 million hectolitres compared to last year after an earthquake in August and poor weather last month in California, the OIV said.

Large producers Bulgaria and Romania saw their output plunge by 30 per cent and 20 per cent year on year respectively, having suffered particularly adverse weather conditions.

The OIV said total global wine production fell six per cent to 271 million hectolitres in 2014 compared to 2013. It did not give definitive consumption forecasts for 2014 but said initial trends pointed to around 243 million hectolitres, which should be sufficient to meet both consumer and industrial needs. These include spirits and vinegar output.

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