Fancy a wine trip to Moldova? Here is your chance

Are you involved in the wine industry?

Fancy a trip to one of the more exotic wine producing nations on the planet?

Moldova has just been announced as the host nation for the Congress of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) in 2025.

The announcement coincided with the Moldova National Wine Day held over the weekend, which featured a record number of 94 wineries in the capital Chisinau.

Moldova has a well-established wine industry and is the 11th largest European wine-producing country.

Established in 1924, the OIV's role is harmonising and standardizing the global wine industry, providing support and assistance through its network of over 1,000 international experts from 50 member states.

As the organization marks its centenary, the year 2024 has been declared the International Year of Vine and Wine.

As to who the smiling folk in the image above are, I have no idea. The press release did not bother to identify them.  

For more info see www.wineofmoldova.com

Wine industry fears warning labels on bottles

Bottles of wine could in the near future carry health messages with lurid photos like those carried on packets of cigarettes. Get ready for warnings like "drinking causes cancer".

To head off action like this, the International Organisation of Wine and Vine (OIV) met with the World Health Organisation this week to “discuss the role of wine in alcohol policies”, Drinks Business reports.

The OIV wants to promote the role of moderate wine consumption as part of a healthy lifestyle.

The OIV issued a statement to Drinks Business saying it has always encouraged responsible drinking and has published the results from many studies into the effects of moderate wine consumption on health.

For this reason it noted that the OIV and WHO have “common objectives in promoting a healthy way of life”, adding that “co-operation is crucial between both organisations”.

The WHO is expected to adopt “a global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol” in May this year.

Within the draft plan, among the “proposed actions” for the WHO secretariat, is not only the “implementation of minimum pricing and taxation policies”, but also “the development and implementation of warning labels” for drinks.

There will be a final vote soon to decide on whether the recommendations in this report should be adopted by the European Union, which would include a suggestion that health warnings be added to all alcoholic drinks.

The world's biggest wine producer may surprise you

Which country produces the most wine? 

Many people would guess France, but the French actually trail in third place behind Italy and Spain, the latest figures released by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV). 

Overall world wine production in 2021 is expected to be 4% lower than in 2020, based on a report using information collected from 28 wine producing countries. 

In the European Union alone, "due to the late spring frost and generally unfavourable weather conditions," says the OIV production down 13% on 2020. 

Some countries defied the trend with Portugal (6.5 million hectolitres +1%), Romania (5.3 million hectolitres +37%), Hungary (3.1 million hectolitres +4%) and Germany (8.4 million hectolitres +4%) all in growth. 

The world's largest producers are all showing a clear decline. 

Italy (vineyards in the Alto Adige are pictured above) is experiencing a 9% drop in production (44.5 million hectolitres). 

France, second in 2020, produced only 34.2 million hectolitres, a fall of 29% compared to the previous year.  France has "suffered the most from the effects of a disastrous vintage", says the report.

The downturn "France's lowest production volume since 1957" has allowed Spain (35 million hectolitres, or -14%) to take over, by a narrow margin, second place worldwide. 

Italy, Spain and France combined represent 45% of total world production.