The recent 8.8 Earthquake that rocked major cities in Chile have really done a lot to hurt the wine industry of that country. The Washington Post article quotes Rene’ Merino, president of the Wines of Chile Group. estimate that $975 million was wasted alone in spilled wine. Here’s a snip:

The full extent of the damage to the industry, which has annual sales of about $1.3 billion, is only now coming into focus as wine producers take stock of their losses. Some industry officials played down the damage, saying there would be little long-term effect on price or supply.

Officials from Chile’s biggest producers, representing 95 percent of the industry, met Wednesday and concluded that the earthquake’s effects on business were not as bad as initially feared. Merino, who led the meeting, said about 12.5 percent of the country’s cellared wine was lost.

But others said perhaps 20 percent or more of the Chilean industry’s stored wine was destroyed, which could create serious problems for Chilean exports in the coming months.

Source: The Washington Times