A report by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) said that global output is expected to drop this year to around 247m hectolitres, down 8 percent from last year.

A hectolitre is 100 litres (about 26 gallons), or the equivalent of just over 133 standard wine bottles, so the fall in output predicted by the OIV equates to about 2.9bn fewer bottles in 2017.

“In the European Union (EU), extreme weather events — from frost to drought — significantly impacted 2017 wine production, which was historically low,” it said.

It added that sharp drops in the world’s top three wine producing countries (Italy, France and Spain) were largely responsible for the overall drop around the world.

OIV predicts Italian wine production will fall 23 percent to 39.3m hectolitres and that French production will drop 19 percent to 36.7m hectolitres. Meanwhile in Spain, production will be 15-percent lower at 33.5m hectolitres.

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