MILAN, Italy (AP) — A bumper harvest is expected to push Italian wine production above that of neighboring France for the first time in a decade, possibly making Italy the world's largest wine producer.
The Coldiretti farmers lobby estimates the production of Italian wine is up 8 percent over 2007 to 4.7 billion liters, compared with 4.44 billion liters in neighboring France, where production fell 5 percent. Figures will be confirmed in January.
Italy last surpassed France's production in 1998, and has since been reducing the area of land cultivated as vineyards in favor of improving quality, Coldiretti's wine expert Domenico Bosco said Wednesday.
Italy's strong harvest is largely due to good weather, Bosco said, which helped Sicily, in particular, recover from lower 2007 yields caused by a deadly fungus there.
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