Italy Becomes Worlds Biggest Wine Producer

Italy produced in 2008 for the first time in ten years more wine than its neighbor, France. Italian wine production rose by eight percent compared with 2007, while French wine production fell by five percent. Italy produced in 2008 between 4.5 billion and 4.7 billion liters of wine. In France 4.44 billion liters of wine was made. It is the first time since 1998 that the Italians have produced more wine than France, traditionally the largest wine producer in the world. Sixty percent of the wine produced in Italy carries some quality label. The other forty percent is low quality wine. Italy accounts for around one third of the European wine market and seventeen percent of the global wine market.