Greece’s Central Cooperative Union of Wine Producers (KEOSOE) on Friday announced a 2.19 pct increase in the number of grape collection applications submitted for the harvest period 2018/2019, compared with the previous year.

In an announcement, the Cooperative said that the number of cultivation areas rose 7.25 pct in the 2018/2019 period, while the grape harvest rose 5.48 pct in the year. KEOSOE said that the grape harvest represented around 1,745,000 HL of wine and noted that this year’s increase reflected the fact that, for the first time, small wineries were obliged to give official report on their production.

Eastern Macedonia-Thrace recorded the biggest increase in vineyards (+27.12 pct), followed by Central Macedonia (18.08 pct), Western Macedonia (11.96 pct), Peloponnese (9.88 pct) and Attica (7.22 pct), while Northern Aegean recorded an 1.21 pct decline.