What You Need To Know About The Wine Shortage Predicted For 2018

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If drinking a glass of wine at the end of the day is one your life’s pleasures, we have some news that might concern you: A wine shortage is predicted for 2018. However! Before you start to panic, it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Extreme weather conditions, such as hail and droughts, led to low harvests in major wine-producing countries like Spain, Italy and France. Combined with the wildfires that affected California’s production, analysts predict shortages and increased prices.

“We still foresee a dramatic decline in wine availability going into 2018,” Stephen Rannekleiv, a global beverages strategist at Rabobank, told CNNMoney. “We expect the decline [in consumption] to be felt most tangibly in the lower-priced tiers.”

This chart shows how Europe’s wine harvest has decreased since 2013:

If you’re ready to head to your favorite wine retailer and wipe out the shelves, other experts say that this kind of thing has happened before and the industry knows how to handle it. “Some price tensions could appear in some geographic areas impacted by [bad weather]. But very often wine producers and wine industries keep wine stocks in order to respond to such risks,” a spokesperson for the International Organization of Vine and Wine told the BBC.

wine photo
Getty Images | David Silverman

That’s a relief! Still, some in the industry have concerns about how harvests will be affected not just in 2018, but in years to come. “The real danger is the potential loss of damage to the vines for future years. We are a long way from knowing what that could mean for wineries,” Michael Kaiser, vice president of WineAmerica told CNNMoney.

While it doesn’t seem like there will be an out-and-out wine shortage anytime soon, it can never hurt to grab a few extra bottles, right? In fact, this news is as good a reason as any to kick back with a glass of your favorite wine and appreciate it that much more!

[H/t People]

 

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About the Author
Kate Streit
Kate Streit lives in Chicago. She enjoys stand-up comedy, mystery novels, memoirs, summer and pumpkin spice anything.

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