Some interesting stats …

I read a report on Decanter.com yesterday that had some interesting numbers, so I wanted to do a quick post and share them:

• Spain will produce more wine than France by 2015.
• Spain has the most hectares under vine, followed by France then Italy.
• In 2007, American wines outsold French wines in the UK.
• The US is now selling and drinking more bottles than anywhere in the
  world, meaning France is no longer the world’s biggest wine market.
• Rosé outsold white wine in France for the first time, and red wine sales declined.

Much of this decline in sales and exporting has been attributed to France’s resistance to new trends and a new consumer. I’ve come across several importers from France who are striving to make French wine more accessible (it can be scary), but not enough. You have to admit, to a wine newbie, a French label is scary.

4 Responses to “Some interesting stats …”

1. ryan says:

   July 15, 2008 at 7:33 am

   Spain will probably over take France even sooner I believe, we have the juice already, it just needs demand to turn it into wine.
2. lauren says:

   July 15, 2008 at 4:06 pm

   It can be tres scary!
   Unlike other French wines, Champagne (the real kind…) consumption is actually on the rise. In fact, I heard somewhere that the French government increased the size of the Champagne winemaking region in order to meet production; but, the world still won’t see a greater availability of true Champagne for several years.
3. Alex Ultes says:

   July 15, 2008 at 4:35 pm

   @lauren:
   …but you need to see that champagne sales in france are going straight down (the total consumption of wine per capita as well!)
4. lauren says:

   July 16, 2008 at 1:51 pm

   Alex, I didn’t know that champagne sales are down! How does that compare to sparkling wines produced in other countries, I wonder?