Exports during the first quarter doubled the sales of the first three months of 2023. In addition, non-alcoholic wine is already available in the country.
Uruguay produced 67.5 million liters of came in the 2024 harvest, leaving behind a complex year like 2023, marked by the consequences of the historic drought which affected the country. Thus, in the first three months of the year, exports doubled compared to the first quarter of last year.
2024 was the year of recovery for the grape production in Uruguay, despite the fact that it was “a strange vintage”: “It started very well, about halfway through there was a lot of rain and then it settled down, but the good thing is that that rain did not have negative consequences, a good harvest came out,” he explained. Ricardo Cabrera, president of National Institute of Viticulture (Inavi)to Rurales of El País.
In that sense, 90 million kilos of grapes were harvested, which were used to produce about 67.5 million liters of wine, although the final figure will be known at the end of the month. In any case, during the first quarter the exports in the year-on-year comparison.
“We came from a low harvest compared to the drought of 2022, but we got used to a normal harvest again in Uruguay, where it rains some at the beginning, in the middle or at the end, and we hope to have a good production and quality wines“said Cabrera. The years with less rainfall are better for the harvest, because “the fewer kilos, the higher the quality of the grapes on the plant.” In any case, the water deficit recorded in 2022 and 2023 was exaggerated. and for that reason, the last harvest had its damages.
“We are working very hard at Inavi with foreign trade to show all wines to the world,” said the president of the institute. “The quality of Uruguayan wine merits continuing to work, grow and show it to the world,” he added.
Non-alcoholic wine is now available in Uruguay
Cabrera also announced that the first batches of non-alcoholic wine and a company that already has it for sale, added to another that is about to release its varieties for commerce.
Although these first batches are imported, there are possibilities of bringing technological equipment and that national wineries do so. “It could be a great success,” concluded Cabrera.
As reported Ambit, Non-alcoholic wine, a new type of production derived from grapes without the need to be fermented, came from Europe. The idea of the authorities is, in a few months, to authorize the first local productions. This will be after the harvest is over, the harvest season for wine production.
The decree approved by Inavi establishes the regulations for the production of non-alcoholic wine, since until now there was no legal figure for this. According to national legislation, wine must have a minimum of 9.5 or 10 degrees of alcohol.
Source: Ambito
