The Great Wine Shortage May Not Be As Bad As You Think

Last week, Morgan Stanley predicted a massive crunch in wine supply, as production levels fell to their lowest in 40 years and demand from the US and China rose.

However, the report has been dismissed by trade organizations like the International Organization of Vine and Wine and Federation of French Wine and Spirits Exporters, according to reporting by Mercopress.

While the International Organization of Vine and Wine did acknowledge that nearly 300,000 hectares of wine-producing land has been lost since 2006, they believe this loss is being made up for by production in non-European countries like Romania, Chile and New Zealand, and an increase in productivity in traditional wine producers like Italy, France and Portugal.

Historically, the majority of wine-production comes from old-world countries like France, Italy and Spain, while most of the growth in consumption comes from the US and China. Vineyards in Europe have been shutting down at an alarming rate, and China's newly-wealthy population has been demanding wine in ever-greater quantities.

According to Pierre Genest, assistant director general of the Federation of French Wine and Spirits Exporters, 2013 saw more production of wine than consumption for the first time in six years. He told Mercopress:

"It's obvious that we're in a situation where the size of European vineyards is diminishing, but the size of vineyards in the rest of the world is increasing...And if the surfaces shrink, one would think that technological developments would allow for an increase in yields, which would make up for it."

Drink up.