Harvest is coming to an end in the Northern Hemisphere, and like the Southern Hemisphere earlier in the year, it looks to be smaller than the volume produced in the previous year.   Spain and Italy both look to be sharply down on volume when compared to 2013, while France looks to rebound from the small crop of last year.   Estimates from the United States are now coming in, and California looks to be down, as expected, from the record setting crop of 2013.   Based on current estimates, the combined Northern and Southern Hemisphere crops should be much closer to the results of the previous five years average, compared to the much larger than average crop of last year.  

The bulk market for exporters continues to be slightly on the slower end of the activity spectrum, with plenty of stock available in most markets.   Sales have picked up a little over the past thirty days, as harvest reports from the Northern Hemisphere have been less than enthusiastic in regards to volume. Given the smaller harvest globally in 2014, expectations are that the available wine inventories will move from a long position back towards balanced.

Read the full report & current Ciatti pricing