Barbara Murray
CHICAGO — Wine sales in the United Kingdom are booming, rising 45 percent in value from 1993 to 1998, according to Euromonitor Market Direction data here.
Euromonitor presented its analysis of European trends and developments in the international wine and spirits market at the London Wine Show in May.
The global market research group expects higher-quality, more expensive wine purchases to increase worldwide as consumers’ tastes become more discerning. “The millennium celebrations will provide a short-term boost in value and volume, with the benefit for sparkling wines particularly strong,” the report says.
Euromonitor found that the UK’s booming wine market was worth £4.3bn, but UK consumers pay more for their wine because of the high level of customs duties. British consumers drink less than a quarter of the wine per capita of Italians, but they spend almost as much on wine as Italians.
Almost 30% of the UK’s wine imports come from France, both by volume and value. However, France faces increasing competition from Australia, the UK’s fastest-growing wine exporter. The US and Argentina are also serious contenders for the attention of British consumers, who Euromonitor notes are willing to try wines from a range of countries.
Red wine sells best internationally, with growth peaking in Japan, where sales rose 947% in volume and 429% in value over the same period. But sake remains a favorite in Japan, with 81% of sales value coming from non-grape wines. Sake is brewed from rice.
Some of the expansion in red wine consumption across major countries can be attributed to claims that moderate red wine consumption reduces the risk of heart disease. In Spain, France and the United Kingdom, red wine still constituted the largest segment of red wine consumption in 1998.
Sparkling wines came in next in France (20.6%) and Germany (36%), but Italian consumers prefer still white wines to red wines, as do Americans. White wine sales (38%) outsold red wine (25%) last year in the United States.
