Hungarian Wine Production Up By 10%

About 2.9-3 million hectoliters of cloudy new wine were produced from the grapes harvested this year, 10% higher than last year's level, which is around the average of the past ten years, according to the overview prepared by the National Chamber of Agriculture (NAK) and the National Council of Wine Communities (HNT).

According to their statement sent to MTI on Tuesday, the harvest took place without any problems. Thanks to the dry summer weather, the harvest was healthy and of extremely good quality, with a quantity of approximately 410-430,000 tons.

They highlighted that the golden yellowness of the grapes has not yet affected the harvest, and there is no visible crop loss in the most affected wine regions compared to previous years.

The diseased vines detected this year still produced fruit in this harvest, but will not do that next year. The epidemic-like spread and the accelerated infection rate created a crisis situation, and next year, the vines will have to be cut down in most of the affected areas.

The time required for fruiting after replanting is primarily influenced by the amount of precipitation. In consecutive drought years, the vines develop slowly, and the fruiting of new plantings can take up to 6-7 years with continuous replacement of the vines.

This means that crop losses must definitely be expected in those wine regions where phytoplasma infection is more significant, they wrote.