- Slight growth in the global areas under vines (7554 kha, + 8 kha): China is now second in the world in terms of its vineyard surface area, with nearly 800 kha
- World wine production is at a good average (279 mhl), after the high volumes in 2013 (291 mhl)
- Global wine consumption in 2014, estimated at 240 mhl, dropped slightly by 2.4 mhl compared with 2013, within an overall context of stabilisation since 2009
- In 2014, the world wine trade continued to increase in terms of volume (104 mhl, +2%) to reach a stable value of 26bn EUR
- Early estimates of the 2015 harvest: a slight decline in the southern hemisphere
Global State of Conditions Report
PPT Presentation [FR]
As a world leader in the wine industry, he served for many years as the official United States delegate to the Wine Technology Group of Experts of the Office International de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV). He was also active in the OIV Subcommission on Methods of Analysis and the Group of Experts that draws up the OIV Code of Enological Practices.
In recognition of his contributions to this organization, he was presented the OIV Award of Merit in 1999, one of the very few Americans to be so honored.
As Chairman of the Wine Institute Technical Committee for two decades, he had been instrumental in successfully guiding the work of that group in numerous areas critical to the grape and wine industries. He had also headed numerous Wine Institute subcommittees dealing with such regulatory bodies as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, both Federal and State EPA, the California Air Resources Board and a number of water quality and waste management agencies. He had received the highly coveted Merit Award of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture.
He had served the Society first as its Technical Projects Director, then as President, and later as the Editor of the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. He acted as Enology Editor of that publication, and as editor of the chapter on wine analysis in the Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International for nearly thirty years and was elected a Fellow of that organization. He has served as the Liaison Officer between AOAC and the American Society for Enology and Viticulture for over 30 years.
The Ambassador recalled that Georgia, the heart of the Caucasus, is one of the cradles of global viticulture. Vines have been grown there for thousands of years, in ideal geological and climate conditions. The oldest seeds, found in various parts of the country, date back to at least 8000 BC and belong to the Vitis Vinifera species. Today, 525 native vine varieties are grown in Georgia.
The Director General of the OIV, Mr Jean-Marie Aurand, praised the second occurrence of this presentation and thanked Georgia for its considerable involvement in the OIV's activities since the World Congress in Tbilisi in 2010. Specifying that he was to travel to Georgia at the beginning of June, Mr Aurand emphasised the resurgence of Georgian wines. Small winegrowers, cooperatives and independent wineries rival one another in terms of quality.
Mr Giorgi Samanishvili, President of the Georgian National Wine Agency (GNWA), presented various aspects of the history and the challenges surrounding Georgian viticulture, insisting on the fact that wine represents a treasure, a part of the culture and an asset for Georgia. Vines can be found everywhere, and are deeply rooted in the daily lives of Georgian people, in poetry, painting and architecture.
This vine and wine culture is closely linked to the country's history. Careful attention has been paid to viticultural traditions, which have been passed down through the generations. Since December 2013, traditional winemaking in a Qvevri (a large clay jar) has been on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List.
Gaumarjos, a toast to you in Georgian!
Among the various points of the agenda, a particular point concerned the additives and their provisions for the food category 14.2.3 “Grape wines and its sub-categories”.
Grape wine is part of Annex 3 for which the additives that are recognised for use in the grape wine category and subcategories should be evaluated case by case.
In 2014 the Committee agreed to establish an electronic working group, to collect information on the functional classes, on the appropriateness of setting good manufacturing practice (GMP) or a numerical maximum use level as well as the actual levels of use.
During this 47th session, the Committee endorsed the recommendation to adopt at Step 8 the draft provision for carbon dioxide (INS 290) in food category 14.2.3 “Grape wines” with a maximum use level at “GMP” and to revise the Note 60, associated in order to limit CO2 content in finished still wine at 4000 mg/kg at 20 °C”;
The Committee also endorsed the recommendation to establish an EWG to develop a discussion paper, for the next session, which would assist to analyse the specific provisions of food category 14.2.3 and its sub-categories case-by-case.
It was noted that the concern was not about the safety but about the technological justification of the provisions.
The theme for World Health Day 2015 is Food Safety, a theme of high relevance to all people on the planet, and multiple stakeholders, including government, civil society, the private sector, and intergovernmental agencies.
As our food supply becomes increasingly globalized, the need to strengthen food safety systems in and between all countries is becoming more and more evident. That is why the WHO is promoting efforts to improve food safety, from farm to plate (and everywhere in between) on World Health Day.
WHO helps countries prevent, detect and respond to foodborne disease outbreaks - in line with the Codex Alimentarius, a collection of international food standards, guidelines and codes of practice covering all the main foods and processes. Together with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), WHO alerts countries to food safety emergencies through an international information network.
To contribute to the safety of the consumers and take their expectations into account is one of the strategic axes of the new OIV Strategic Plan 2015-2019.
In this framework, the OIV participates to the food safety through its network of experts and in particular the works of the group of experts "Food Safety" which establishes opinions on the new proposed oenological practices and sets limits for certain contaminants.
Moreover, the OIV adopted, several Code of Good Practices in order to limit the presence of certain undesirable compounds in particular Ochratoxin A, biogenic amines and more recently a Code of good fining practices for wine to be applied in the use of proteinaceous wine fining agents with allergenic potential.