MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina has largest wine production in Southern hemisphere

Argentina will have a record production of wine for the Southern hemisphere in 2008, totaling 15.25 million hectoliters, compared to the 15.046 of last year according to the latest report from the Paris seated International Organization of Vines and Wine, OIV.

Argentina which is a full member of OIV also was the largest wine consumer of the region last year with 11.166 million hectoliters and the country with the largest area with vines, 2.3 million hectares, according to OIV president Federico Castellucci. He also indicated that the wine consumption habit in Argentina is very similar to the model of the world's main producers such as France, Spain, Italy and Portugal, and therefore the 2006/07 increase was 0.56% while in the rest of the southern hemisphere it jumped 2.53%. Argentine wine exports that have increased on average 12.4% in the last two decades surged 22.63% in 2007 over 2006, according to the OIV report which includes besides Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa and Uruguay. Southern hemisphere wine exports that have been sustained since the eighties represented last year 23.7% of the overall world exports with the main destinations, United Kingdom, United States and Germany. Argentina was the third exporter of wine from the region to the United Kingdom, where Australia leads with 50% of the market followed by Chile with 19.09% and Argentina with 4%. However Castellucci underlined the growing importance of Russia for Argentine wine exports. Argentina holds 83% of that market followed by Chile with 13.38%.