German Quality Wine Exports
German Quality Wine Exports Post Healthy Increase in 2010
MAINZ 3/25/2011 - Global demand for German quality wines was up in 2010. The German Wine Institute/Mainz reports that compared with the year before, German quality wine exports posted an eight percent increase in volume and now stand at ca. 1.25 million hectolitres valued at 285 million Euros, or six percent more than in 2009. Quality wines accounted for 80 percent of all German wine exports; the remainder consisted of Landweine (Vins de Pays) and wines without more narrowly defined appellations of origin. In light of the forthcoming international wine trade fair ProWein in Düsseldorf, Monika Reule, managing director of the German Wine Institute comments: “Export figures in 2010 confirm that German quality wines have recovered from the worldwide economic crisis of recent years, and exports have resumed a level on a par with 2007.”
Developments in Germany’s most important export market, the USA, were particularly positive: in the quality wine sector, volume increased 19 percent; value, 17 percent – now worth 94 million Euros, or one third of the value of all German quality wine exports.
In the British market German wine exporters had to accept a loss in terms of value (down 16 percent) and volume (down 7 percent). According to wine institute director Reule: “Great Britain remains a challenging market. Yet, all is not bleak. It is positive to note that the average price for a bottle of German wine in local supermarkets increased by eight percent in 2010, which reflects considerable growth in the desirable five-pound-plus category. In addition, increasingly positive media mentions by opinion leaders in the British wine scene lead us to believe that we can expect better results in this market in coming years.”
Export figures for German quality wines in 2010 also showed promising notes in other key markets. In China, for example, “Riesling & Co.” seems to have taken root: volume increased by nearly 17 percent; value, approaching 35 percent. Export values increased in Canada (+15%), Russia (+11%), Japan (+4%), and Switzerland (+12%).