Exports of Catalan Wines up 18% in 2007

Last month the D.O. Penedes wine association UVIPE released figures showing impressive export growth for Catalan wines. From 2006 to 2007, exports rose by 17.8% in value and by 2.5% in volume, reflecting a 15% increase in prices. According to UVIPE the majority of exports went to other EU countries, while the drop in the value of the dollar and increase in the euro had hurt many Catalan wine exporters. UVIPE estimates that in order to absorb the shift in currency valuations, regional exporters have incurred charges of up to 10 million euros.

UK sparkling wine sales up by 44% from '02

In a recent market report from Mintel, sales in the UK of Sparkling wines are up by 44% since 2002, up 13% from last year to reach 42 million liters, outpacing Champagne volumes (29 M liters) by 20% for the same five year span.

In value, sales of sparkling rose to 385 million pounds, up 27% from 2002, led by Cava and Australian sparklers.

The report pointed out that while non-Champagnes are strong in the off-premise market, they need to improve much more in the on-trade, ie. projecting a stronger quality and prestige image.

Quoted in Decanter, Jo Sorensen, brand manager at Codorniu, said 'We see further growth opportunities for the future. UK consumers are ready to try the upper tiers of the sparkling wine category and the statistics show that they are actively trading up.'

Spanish wine exports 2007: UK is leading market

The Spanish Wine Federation (FEV) has released export statistics for the full year 2007, which show strong growth. As noted earlier in Tempranillo (Jan. to Oct. stats), the UK has passed Germany to become the largest market for Spanish wines by value (305.7 million euros).

In general, exports rose by 12% in value to 1.8 billion euros and by 7% in volume to 1.5 billion liters. Big shifts were seen in bulk white wines up 36% in volume to 413 million liters and actually passing the combined red and rosado category (373 M liters). Also Cava showed a 28% increase in value to 356 million euros on 116 million liters shipped, however the FEV did note that this may have been caused by a reporting error in that Italy showed an unbelievable 1781% increase in cave purchases.

By markets in 2007, the top 5 countries in value were:
UK: 305.7 M € (+9% from 2006),
Germany: 295 M € (and leader for cava at 85.8 M €),
USA: 200.3 M € (60% of this in D.O. quality wines)
France 105.6 M € (nearly 60% of this in bulk shipments),
Switzerland 98.4 M €

By volume:
France: 252 M liters
Germany: 250.5 M liters
Russia: 157.8 M liters (87% in bulk shipments)
UK: 127 M liters
Portugal: 120.7 M liters (+22% from 2006).

In all a very good year for Spanish wine exports.

Spanish wine exports: UK now leading market by value

The Spanish Wine Federation (FEV) yesterday released export sales data for the period January to October 2007 versus the same period in 2006.

In nearly every category, the value and volume of Spanish export shipments increased during the period.

The highlights:
The UK is now the most valuable market for Spanish wine exports, passing traditional leader Germany.
The total value of Spanish wine exports rose by 12% to 1.47 billion euros on volumes of 1.2 billion liters (up 4.3%).

Details on value and volumes shipped:

• Shipments of white bulk wines (both D.O. and non-D.O.) rose by roughly 30% in value and volume to 102 million € and 333 million liters.
• Cava was up by 25% in value to 263 million euros on 91.6 million liters (up nearly 12%).
• Bulk sales of red and rosado wines (which the FEV lumps in the same statistical caterogy), slipped by 6% value to 128 M € on volume of 305 M liters (down 16%).
• Red and rosado bottled wines from D.O.s, the single most important value category, comprising 37% of the value of all Spanish wine exports) was up by more than 11% in value to 545.4 M € on volume of 171.4 M liters (up 7%).

Destination markets:

• The UK surpassed Germany to become the most important market by value for Spanish wines, spending 240.6 M €, or 16.4% of all spending on Spanish wine exports. This is an increase of 13%. The majority of UK purchases were on D.O. wines (142.4 M €) and Cava (50.4 M €).
  
• Germany's spending rose by a less amount (5.3%) to 234.9 M € or 16% of spending.
  
• This was followed by the USA, up 15%, to 174.1 M €.

By volume:

• Germany took the top spot with 16.7% of shipments to 206.7 M liters (up 13.7%).
• France was number 2 at 202.6 M liters: 16.3% of shipments, up 0.8%.
• Russia continued its buying, mostly of bulk wines, to take the third position with 134.8 M liters, or nearly 11% of all volume, up .2%. Bulk volumes to Russia accounted for 87% of shipments to that market.

The only market in the top 10 that declined was the Netherlands (down 0.2% in value; down 6.5% in volume). The largest increases were in Italy: up 127.7% in value to 47.7 M €, and in the US: up 26% in volume, mainly on D.O. wines (46% of exports by volume to the US and Cava 19% of export volume to the US).

Spanish wine exports continue strong growth

Today the Spanish Wine Federation (FEV) released export data for January through July 2007 vs. 2006 which shows very positive growth nearly in every area.

Total value of wine exports rose by 11.8% to 975.6 million euros and volume rose by 8%. The leading growth segment was that of bulk white table wines (up 48% in value and 41% in volume), followed by Cava (up 26.7% in value and 21.8% in volume). . The only drop was seen in vinos de aguja (slightly sparkling wines) down by 25.3% in value and 52.9% in volume (the positive aspect for exporters in this sector was that the average price rose by 58.7%).

All told exports of bottled still wines rose by 8% in value to 597 million euros with the majority of these (76%) being in the combined red and rosado category. Bulk wines also grew by 17% to 165.5 million euros and by 10% in volume to 450.7 million liters.

In terms of destination markets, the overall value and volume leader continues to be Germany at nearly 17% all exports in both value and volume (162 million euros and 144.4 million liters). The UK, however, rose to be the leading market for D.O. wines at 95.8 million euros worth of wine (on 40 million liters). Russia continued to show the greatest growth at 117% in value to 37.2 million euros and up 115.5% in volume to 97.8 million liters, of which 88% is bulk table wine. Total exports of spanish wine to the US rose by 22.7% in value to 118.5 million and by 37% in volume to 36.1 million liters, with categories more evenly spread. In terms of volume, the largest category shipped to the US were D.O. wines at 46% of shipment volume.

The top ten leading markets, which accounted for roughly 73% of all exports in value terms, were:

1. Germany
2. UK
3. USA
4. France
5. Switzerland
6. Holland
7. Russia
8. Sweden
9. Belgium
10. Canada

Spanish wine exports up in value by nearly 14%

Customs figures republished by the Spanish Wine Federation for the period January to June 2007 show the value of Spanish exports is up 13.8% from a year ago to 681.3 million euros. Volume rose by 15% to 616.3 million liters.

Every wine category but one, was up; from bulk to table wines to D.O. wines to cava, even Sherry saw a modest growth in volume, all rose except for lightly sparkling vinos de aguja.
· Close to +30% in value for bulk wines on +23% growth in volume as traditional markets France and Germany returned to form and Russia purchased just over 60 million liters,
· 15% increase in value paid for the same volume of white D.O. wines, meaning that summer whites are moving upmarket,
· Vinos de aguja fell -30% in value on -60% volume, unable to maintain their surge of the previous spring, however, the value/volume change ratio means that those agujas that are moving, are the pricier ones as the average per liter price is up +66%.

Germany led all export markets and took in 18% of Spanish wine export value and 17% of volume. Major growth markets were Russia at 189% in value; Switzerland, which seems to be spending for higher priced D.O. wines at 34 million euros on 10.5 million liters and the US, which has strong demand for D.O. wines at 52 million euros on 12 million liters.

Spanish wine exports 2007 - up 12% in first trimester

First trimester exports of Spanish wines showed double digit growth in both value (+12.5%) and volume (+12.6%). The FEV data is based on customs' reports for January through April 2007 and provides comparisons with the same period last year.

The highlights for the 1T 2007 period:
Higher value exports to the US: among Spanish wine's 5 highest value markets, the US market grew fastest, up 15,25%, spending 39 million euros on D.O. wines and 10 M€ on Cava. Germany is still the overall most valuable market: at over 92M€, accounting for 18% of Spanish wine exports by value. Second most valuable market is the U.K. at 75M€. The U.K. imported the highest value amount of D.O. wines, 50M€.

Bulk exports to Russia continue to grow, up 420% to 50 million liters. The trade ban on main Russian market suppliers Moldova and Georgia continues, providing commercial opportunities for Spanish bulk suppliers. France was Spain largest bulk wine market for the period at over 60M liters. And Germany is the largest market overall at over 80M liters.

Bottled wines from D.O. were up nearly 9% in value for the period, on flat volume. The majority of the growth in value was the +14% growth the value of white wine shipments. While for bottled red table wines growth in value and volume was at roughly 15%. Cava grew nicely at 12% growth in value on 5% volume growth.

Spanish wine exports make temporary splash in Russia

The Spanish Wine Federation announced today that exports to Russia of Spanish wine and wine must rose in 2006 by a dramatic 103% in volume from 61.8 million liters in 2005 to 156 million liters last year. According to information provided by the Russian Customs Service, this places Spain ahead of France (106 million liters) as the leading supplier of wine to Russia with a 28% marketshare for that year.

However, at 95 million US dollars, the total value of the Spanish product trails that of France ($ 123 million). The average per liter price is extremely low at $0.61 versus the $1.16 of France's exports. France and Spain combined accounted for 40% of the value of Russian imports in 2006.

The Spanish Wine Federation's press release ends optimistically by saying that now Spanish producers can look to improve the per-liter price, but exporters should not get their hopes up too high. The 2006 Spanish exports were obviously bulk shipments sold at a very aggressive price. Switching from this to branded wines at even 10 times the price (or $4.58 per 750ml bottle) would be big accomplishment. And a cursory Google-based investigation into the Russian wine market leads me to be even less enthusiastic. Russian traditionally imports wine from neighboring Moldava and Georgia. In March of 2006, citing concerns of pesticide contamination, Russia's consumer protection agency banned imports from both countries. Observers alleged that these bans were motivated by political disputes that Russia was having with Moldova and Georgia. Last November, President Putin announced the end of the ban with Moldova, while that for Georgia appearantly continues. Given that Moldovan wines are back in the Russian market, the bulk sale opportunity for Spanish wine will likely shrink, unfortunately.

Spanish Agriculture Ministry announces new wine plan and misses the point

The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture on Monday released their new plan for the wine sector. The publication "Vino 2010" calls for spending 133 million euros over the next four years to create a market observatory to track market trends, support worker training and promote the Spanish wine brand at home and overseas.


All laudable (but vague) goals, which are not very realistic if what they want to do is to help Spanish producers continue gain marketshare overseas. According to the OIV, Spain has the most area of land under vine (about 15% of the entire world's wine grapes), but is only the third leading producer in terms of volume, after France and Italy. This means that productivity is not as high as it could be. But the more serious problem in Spain is that domestic consumption has been dropping: from 18 million hectoliters in the 1980's to 10 million in 2006. Exports are up, but are still mainly reliant on bulk sales. In total, the gap between production and consumption is about 7 million hectoliters, which is sent for distilling into pure alcohol.


Nowhere in the Ministry's plans are incentives for reducing the over abundance of wine, or even replacing the vast acreages of insipid Airen with grapes capable of producing better wines, something the industry is starting to do, but needs more incentives to do more.

The Ministry apparantly believes that every wine is a good wine and deserves to be sold. This is a mistake. It should be trying to reduce the glut of cheap bulk wines and focus on building quality and promotion. 133 millions could help reducing the oversupply of poor quality vines, as well as help the export-ready producers that need a boost to promote their wines overseas. In short, a missed opportunity.

Spanish wine exports up 15% in 1Q 2007

The Spanish Wine Federation (FEV) has released export data from the first quarter 2007 showing strong increases in both value and volume for Spanish wines. Volume was up by 15.9% to 353 million liters and value up by 15.6%, or 53 million Euros, to 391.6 million Euros from the same period a year ago.

All wine categories, except vinos de aguja, registered large gains in their invoiced values: D.O. wine was up 12%, bottled table wines up 24%, Cava up 14%, and bulk wines rose by 25%.

The growing export markets during the quarter were:
UK , Spain's second most valuable export market, was up +18% in value and +14% in volume;
USA, the third largest market in terms of value, was up 15% in value and up 29% in volume;
Exceptional increases were made in sales of wines to Russia (up over 270%), which is now Spain's third largest export wine market in terms of volume and seventh in value.
Germany remained for first quarter 2007 Spain's most important wine export market, in both value and volume, buying over 60.5 million liters of wine (17% of production) at a value of 71.5 million euros (18% of value).

Spanish wines you can't drink in Spain

Recently I took a look at Paul Gregutt's NW wine insider post on Spanish wines.

I was struck by the realization that several of the wines on his list of recommendations would be very hard to find at the average wineshop in Spain as they come from fairly obscure wineries or regions. Also, a few of the recommendations would be next to impossible to find as they have been made for export only.

This tells me that US importers are really searching hard for new values beyond the well established brands and in some cases, working with wineries to make export-only wines.

From Paul's list, I discovered one such importer, Olé Imports, that looks to have put together quite an intriquing assortment of hard-to-find and/or custom made wines.

Martin Codax and Gallo team up

News in last Sunday's La Vanguardia (and also in Avenue Vine) of the recent exclusive US distribution deal between Martin Codax and E&J Gallo. This deal is likely to triple the winery's total sales and make it the largest single supplier of Spanish wines to the US market. Martin Codax is well known in Spain for its quality albariño white wines produced in the Rias Baixas region of northwest Spain, but also has a winery in La Rioja.

Sales forecasts from the winery anticipate 8 million bottles of their albariño going to the US. To give some perspective, this year total production from all of Rias Baixas was roughly 20 million bottles, so the US, already the region's largest overseas market (expanding at a rate of of 35% per year) could soon become the destination for more than 40% of production!

Spanish wine exports 2006

The Spanish Wine Federation (FEV) has just released their interanual export data for the period Feb 2006 to January 2007.

Overall, the general trends are continuing as seen earlier: the value of exports are up 4.9%, volumes are slightly off at -0.5%, and average price per liter is up by 5.4%, demonstrating the continued growth of bottled wines (up 5.2% in volume) versus bulk wines (down 7.5% in volume) and of mainly higher priced wines from D.O.s (up by 9% in value).

In general Spanish white wines continue to outpace all others in terms of growth (up 10,7% in volume for the combination of still bottled whites from D.O. and table wines. However, red and rosados continue to account for 74% of all still bottled wine exports.

For Cava, exports were up 7% in volume and 1.7% in value, but average price per liter dropped by 5%.

Sherry continues to lose ground, down in volumes by 25%, but only down in value by 7%, while registering a per liter price rise of 24%. So, sherries seem to be pursuing an up-market export strategy.

Breaking with the impressive growth registered earlier, vinos de aguja closed down 30% in volume and 18% in value, but with a per liter price rise of 16.6%.

Rioja, grape changes, new marketing push, strong sales

D.O.C. Rioja, Spain's oldest and most renowned wine growing region has been making efforts to up-date itself adding new grape varieties and spending more on promotion.

Recently, and for the first time since 1925, the Regulatory Council of Rioja has approved the use of several white wine grape types, three of which are from outside Rioja: Chardonnay, Verdejo and Sauvignon Blanc, and three that are native to Rioja: Maturana blanca, Tempranillo blanco and Torrontés. This last variety might be a surprise as Argentina has made the most of this grape, but Rioja looks to be restaking their claim to it. The non-native white grapes can only be introduced as subsitutes for uprooted vines and wine makers will not be allowed under DOC rules to produce wines made from a majority of these grapes nor to prominently list them on the front label, restrictions that not applied to the native varieties. Presently only 9% of Rioja's grape production is in white.

In addition to the new whites, the "minority" native red grapes of Maturana tinta, Maturano or Maturana parda and Monastel have been approved for use.

In marketing, Rioja is pushing on all fronts. In Spain, as a part of a 1.6 million euro plan, the DOC has launched a website called Rioja Pasion, and, in conjuntion with Paramount, they are opening up a casting process in which budding young comics are encouraged to sent short videos about their first experiences with wine. The 10 finalists will have a public run-off competition and the 20 runners up will get a free case of Rioja. Internationally, and capitalizing on the positive name recognition of Rioja, there are more websites: in the USA there is Vibrant Rioja , which is part of a 2 million euro promo plan for the US alone. In the UK, the Rethink Rioja campaign has created a website for the market and has held wine tastings and retailer competitions. In Germany, the campaign has coincided with the release of the mystery novel "A Rioja for the Matador" by Paul Grote. A media promotion to journalists have included sending out the book and a bottle of Rioja.

In terms of sales, Rioja hit a new high in 2006 with total shipments of 261 million liters of wine, an increase of 4.3% over 2005, with exports up by 11%. The UK, which represents the largest export market for Rioja (35% of all export volumes) saw the sale of 27.8 million liters (up by 13.8% and double that in 2000). Germany, the 2nd largest market, consumed 13.1 million liters (up 6.2%), and the US moved up to 3rd place with 6.8 million liters (up by 12.9%), edging out Switzerland and Sweden. In all, these five countries take in 70% of all Rioja exports.

Spanish wine export data Jan. thru Oct. 2006

The Spanish Federation of Wine has just released export data for the period January through October 2006.

The data shows a slight increase in volume from the same period one year ago (0.4%) to 1.19 billion liters, but a strong increase in value: +5.2% to 1.3 billion euros.

Looking at export volumes, the largest percentage increase was +10% in the category of aromatized wines, a category that included sangria and vermouth (and is legally defined by the EU as a beverage that contains at least 75% wine). This was followed by bottled wines from D.O.s at +6.74% and Cava and sparking wines at +5.6% to 86 million liters. Declining, but less sharply than previously, were bulk wines at -9.7% to 620.4 million liters.

The overall breakdown of export volumes by category show the continuing large share of bulk wines:
All bulk (both D.O. and non D.O.) = 52% of all wines (still, sparkling and other) exported from Spain
Bottled still wines = 34.3%

Cava = 7% of total wine exports by volume

Aromatized wines = 5% (55.5 million liters)

Sherries = 1.5% (17.8 million liters)

Vino de aguja (slightly sparkling wines) = 0.2% (at 3.3 million liters this category is up by 80% for the period).

With in total still wines the breakdown is:
All bottled whites = 10% (107.5 million liters)
All bottled reds and rosados = 29% (300.6 million liters)

By value, the picture is as follows for the period:

D.O. wines are up by +9.6% to 645 million euros
Bottled table wines are up by 3.8% to 143 million euros
and Cava is up by 1.9% to 220.5 million euros.

In terms of their share of value:
All bottled wines (both from D.O.s and table wine) = 59% of the value of all wines exported from Spain
Bulk wines = 16% (213.5 million euros)
Cava = 16.5%
Aromatized wines = 2.9% (38 million euros)
Sherries = 4.3% (57.7 million euros)
Vino de aguja = 0.3% (4 million euros)

Within bottled still wines the distribution of value is:

D.O. = 81.8% of value (645.3 million euros)

All whites (both D.O. and non) = 24.3% (of total still wines)
All reds and rosados = 75.7% (of total still wines), of which D.O. wines = 62%.

These statistics from the FEV are based upon the value of the products as declared to the Spanish customs office at the time of export.

Spanish wine exports January - Sept. 2006

The Spanish Wine Federation has released data on wine export trends for the year through September. These are:

Total value of exports is up by 4.4% for the period to 1.14 billion euros, while volume fell by 2.6% to 1.03 billion liters.

Exports of bottled wines continue to grow, while those of bulk declined.

Bottled wines from D.O.s: grew 8.6% in value and by 4.2% in volume
Sparkling wines: up by 3% in value and by 8.8% in volume
Bulk wines: down by 4% in value and by 9.4% in volume.
The average price per liter grew by 7.3%.

As commented on earlier in this blog, there has been a continuing trend of export of white wines (+15% in volume for D.O. whites) and in lightly sparkling wines (+110% in volume).

The leading markets are:
in terms of value of exports: Germany (buying in all categories with emphasis on D.O. wines and cava), UK (mainly D.O. wines and cava) , and the US (similar to the UK);
and in volume: France (lots of bulk wines), Germany and the UK.

In terms of average price paid per liter, the leading markets are the US, Mexico and Ireland.

Spanish wine export data first half 2006

Yesterday, the Spanish Wine Federation (FEV) released a report on the export trends for Spanish wines in the first half of 2006. The data confirms the trends established during the first 5 months of the year (see previous report):

Bulk wines are down from the same period one year ago (by 10% in volume shipped and 5% in total value of shipments) as main importers France and Italy cut back on purchases. Bottled wines from D.O.'s are up (by 11.5% in volume and 13.6% in value). The value of bottled exports more than offset losses in bulk exports to result in a total positive movement in value of plus 5%, but total volume of wines shipped dropped by 7%.

Notable details are:

• The volume of bottled D.O. white wines rose by 20% (and 8% in value), meaning that export markets are buying up more economical whites.
• Bottled red and rosados (which are combined for statistical purposes) is up by 8% in volume and 15% in value, meaning buyers seem to moving up to higher value reds.
• Cava is progressing nicely with volume up by 3% and value up by 4%.
• And as reported earlier in Tempranillo, vinos de aguja (slightly sparking wines) have continued their explosive growth: up 514% in volume and 178% in value.

All in all, these trends seem positive as Spain eases its reliance on bulk exports and more firmly establishes its high value wines abroad.

Spanish wine export trends: January to May 2006

The Spanish Wine Federation (FEV, in its Spanish acronym) has just released data on Spanish wine exports for January to May 2006. The main overall recent trends have continued: Spain is exporting less bulk wine, but more D.O. bottled wine, which is commanding higher prices.

In comparison from the same period one year ago, overall volumes are down by 4.6%, but the invoiced value is up by 4.8%, with the average price per liter increasing by 10% to 1.12 euros. Obviously at that price, there is still a lot of bulk wine being shipped: both D.O. and non D.O. bulk shipments were at 269.1 million liters, or 58% of the total still wine exported volume.

The major stand-outs for the period have been: D.O. bottled wines, up by 12% in value, 10% in volume, Cava up by 3.6% in value and 3% in volume, and as was reported previously in this blog the category of slightly sparkling wines, known as vinos de aguja are up an incredible 244% in value and 866% in volume. Admittedly this category is still a minor one at 0.35% of total wine exports, but still that is pretty impressive growth. Somebody somewhere is discovering how refreshing these wines are - perfect for the hot 2006 summer!

The biggest growth per market in the top 10 markets has been as follows:
The US: up 30% in value and 25% in volume, with a majority of product in D.O. bottled wines;
Canada: up 41% in value; China: up 28% in volume, mostly in bulk wines. The US leads the way in overall price, paying 3.76 euros a liter on average, but for some reason Austria is paying 8.59 euros per liter of bulk wines, more than 26 times the average rate paid on bulk. Either Austrian importers are going for super-premium bulk wine (does such a thing exist?), or some crafty exporter has made the deal of the century!

Spanish wine export data for 1Q 2006

The Spanish Wine Federation (the FEV in its Spanish acronym) has released data on wine exports for the first quarter 2006.

The general trends are as follows:

Nearly every category except bottled wines from D.O.'s (denominaciones de origen) has dropped in volume and in value. Decreases were seen in bulk D.O. wines (down 10% in volume and 6% in value), bottled and bulk table wines (off 5% and 10% in volume, respectively) and cava (down 6% in volume and 10% in value). Bottled D.O. wines were up for Reds and Rosados by 10% in volume and 20% in value, and Whites continued their impressive growth: slightly down in value (-2%) but up 19% in volume. The most impressive category was that of vinos de aguja, or mildly sparkling wines, which was up by an astounding 5755% in volume and 1334% in value to reach 1.7 million liters and 1.2 million euros in sales. (Note: one of my favorite wines of this type is produced by Gramona; their Moustillant Blanc)

All categories combined showed an increase of 3.5% in value and a drop of 3% in value; meaning that prices (or exchange rates) are increasing and/or buyers are moving to more up-market products.

O.I.V. World Wine Report: Spain rising as exporter

In their March 2006 report on the state of the world's wine industry, the International Organization of Vine and Wine (O.I.V.) presented some interesting information on Spanish wine.
In terms of volume, Spain now ranks number 2 behind Italy as France drops to third position. This despite a trend of price decreases in non-denominated wines from Italy and France and prices holding steady for Spanish wines of similar class. The agency's expert reports that total area under actively producing vine in Spain dropped by 12 million hectares as EU efforts to eliminate excess (read low-end) wine production continue.

The invisible boom in Spanish white wine exports

The Spanish Wine Federation (FEV) has released the full year export wine data for 2005. In their press release they note the continuing trend of slightly more value (+1.12% from 2004) for less volume (down 1.69% from '04), which highlights the weakening picture for Spanish bulk wine exports. This trend is also consistent with the trend everywhere of consumers opting for better quality (higher price) but less of it.

However, the FEV has COMPLETELY IGNORED the amazing boom in Spanish white wine exports, which are up 100% in value for the year and up 81% in volume, meaning that even though prices have risen (overall 10% higher), there has been a lot of whites wines shipped overseas during 2005. Of course, white wine exports account for only 23% of the value of bottled D.O. origen exports (172 million euros against 563 million euros for red wines), but the omission might also have something to with the opinion in Spain that reds are serious wines, but whites are less so. But an increasing number of extranjeros are finding out about Albariño, Verdejo, Godello, Xarel·lo and even Gwertztraminer from Spain

2005 export: Spanish white wine takes off

The Federación Español de Vino have recently released export data on Spanish wine for 2005 January through August.

The story continues to be the impressive surge in white wine exports. White wines from D.O. regions have topped 110 million euros for these 8 months, an astounding 95% increase from the same period in 2004. Volume has risen by 80%, meaning that the world is buying much more Spanish white at higher prices.

Spanish white wines have improved greatly over the last few years and the world is noticing. Of course, Chardonnay plantings have increased a great deal, but wine makers have sought to accent their local white grapes, too, which makes a great deal of sense as they have the lead in working with the local varieties, while Chardonnay is grown and used around the world.
Most noted Spanish white varieties are Albariño and Verdejo, but there are many others gaining in stature, such as Godello, Garnacha Blanca and Hondarrabi Zuri, which is used to make the refreshingly acidic Basque wine Txakoli (cha-KO-li), to name but three.

In other categories, there has been a continuing drop in bulk wine exports in total volume (-9%) , total value (-14%) and average price per liter (-6%). This has being off-set by increases for bottled wines from D.O. and Vinos de la Tierra regions in total value (D.O. bottled wines are up 4% and VdlT are up 13%), volume (D.O. +7%, VdlT +9%), but average per liter prices have been mixed(D.O. - 2.5%, VdlT + 4%).

Cava (Spanish traditional method sparkling wines) are up 4% in total value shipped and +1.5% in volume.

Spanish wine exports: 1st half 2005

The Federación Española del Vino has just released export data on Spanish wines for the first half of 2005, which contains some interesting items.

Whites take off:
So long regarded as not worth their while, Spanish white wine exports have been growing dramatically in 2005. While still only accounting for 24% of bottled wine exports, in the first six months this year, white wine exports have nearly doubled in volume and value of shipments to 53.7 million euros and 57 million liters from the same period a year ago.

Table wines are moving:
This is against a background of relatively unchanged bottled wine exports. In total for all bottled wines, except sparkling, the trends show increases in value of 4% and volume of 9%. This illustrates the growth of lower priced, non Denominación de Origen wines which are up 17% in value and 15% in volume.

Cava, Spain's traditional method sparkling wine, shows slight growth at 4% in value and 1.5% in volume. Not really surprising as the majority of cava shipments happen in the second half of the year as people get ready for year-end festivities.

In looking at markets of destination for D.O. wines, the trends show:
Germany continues to import the most volume at 36 million liters at a cost of 62.8 million euros,
UK spends the most, buying 28 million liters at a cost of 65.4 million euros
The US imports 10.5 million liters at a cost 42 million euros.
In paying more than double the price of Germany the US market shows the effects of a weak dollar, or perhaps a taste for more expensive wines!

For Cava, Germany imported 19 million liters, nearly 3 times the UK, the next largest customer, who in turn imported nearly double that of France (switching from Champagne?) and the US, the next two largest markets.

Latest export data for Spanish wines from FEV

The Federación Española del Vino has released the export figures for February 2005.
The report made note of the following trends for the first 2 months of 2005 as compared with the same period in 2004:

Overall volume is down by 4.6% to 201.96 million liters (53.4 million US gallons) while value is up by 1.3% to 202.77 million euros (254.08 million US dollars). This trend can be explained by a drop in bulk wine sales (-15%) plus increases in bottled wines, particularly with table wines (+19%) as well as from D.O.s (+7%) .

By value, the main market for Spanish exports continues to be Germany (25% of total exports), but sales here have fallen by 4%. The largest gaining markets among the top 10 destinations are the US (up by 15%) and the UK (up by 12%).

By volume, France continues as the largest consumer of Spanish wine (90% of that is in bulk wines) at 50 million liters (13 million US gallons). The largest increase in the top 10 was a surge in orders from China (+1588%), again mainly in bulk wine.

For D.O. wines, the leaders by volume are, in order, Germany, UK and Switzerland, while in value the leaders are Germany, UK and the US. Indicating that the Germans and the English are the biggest consumers of quality Spanish wines across the board, while the Swiss buy a large amount of lower priced wine and the Americans are spending comparatively more. (This may be an oversimplification since the value change could, in part, be due exchange rate fluctuations in sales made in the currency of the destination market.)

Spain's wine export promotion shifts focus

In a major change of focus, ICEX, the official export promotion agency of Spain, has decided to move away from promoting various wine-producing regions (Denominaciones de Origen) of Spain to concentrate on a limited number of brands. When the program started in 1981, only three regions were promoted. Now ICEX has promotion activities on behalf of 15 out of the more than 60 D.O.'s in Spain.

According to an article published in El País newspaper on February 20, the ICEX Wines from Spain wine export promotion campaign will use three criteria for selecting the brands to be promoted: that the winery have export capacity and existing connections in the leading export markets, that the wine be recognized by critics for its superior quality, and that the winery has shown itself to be consistently dedicated to exporting. In other words, Wines from Spain will be working on behalf of those wines that already have a presence in export markets.

It might be that this is the best way to get the most mileage from export promotion in a crowded market, but it strikes me as backing only the strongest horses, to the exclusion of helping all interested wineries in trying to carve out a niche in export markets. For example, Cava, Spain's traditional method sparkling wine suffers from a lack of knowledge about how it is similar to Champagne (it is made in exactly the same way) to how it differs (the use of local grape varieties, plus Chardonnay, produces a "softer" mouthfeel that can be more enjoyable). A promotional focus that includes general education and promotion plus brands would go further in highlighting the benefits of Spanish wines in export markets.