In a report published by Assoenologi (www.assoenologi.it), it was forecast that the 2009 harvest in Italy would see a drop of 5% compared to production numbers in 2008 – for a total of 46M hectolitres – which translates to much less product being transformed into bi-products (rectified must, alcohol etc.)… a good thing. But it has also been announced that the price of Italian grapes are planned to drop up to 20%!!!

Considering the prices in 2008 were already very low, this is drop is of historical proportions. To give you an idea of how low prices are, on average, 100 Kg of grapes will cost € 8,00… yes, 8 Euro Cents per Kg. A price which won’t even cover the cost of the harvest for smaller wineries in less popular regions who will be taking the brunt of the blow. There have been rumours that grapes in such prestigious regions as DOC Bolgheri (eg. home of Ornellaia) have been selling for 20 Euro Cents per Kg.

So all in all, be ready for a drop in prices when it comes to Italian wine in the near future. I don’t have the numbers of other main European wine producing regions as of yet, but I can imagine times aren’t any rosier for them.

A wine lover’s dream!!