October 23, 2014 - 9:25 AM
PARIS - France has reclaimed its crown as world's biggest wine producer after a poor 2014 harvest saw Italy's wine production plunge 15 per cent.
French vignerons will produce around 46.2 million hectolitres of wine — about 6.16 billion bottles — this year, up 10 per cent from a year earlier. Italy, whose winemakers have out-produced France's for the last two years, will produce 44.4 million hectolitres of wine in 2014, according to figures released Thursday by the Paris-based International Organization of Vine and Wine.
Total world wine production is set to fall 6 per cent this year to 271 million hectolitres. Spain, which leapfrogged France into second place in 2013, will see its wine production fall 19 per cent this year to 37 million hectolitres, the organization said.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014