WineSur consulted the export managers of renowned local wineries on whether Argentina should keep focusing on Malbec as its emblematic variety or diversify its exports by offering other varieties. The key seems to be to add diversity without leaving Malbec aside.
In this article, WineSur provides readers with the names of the 30 Argentinian brands that most exported still bottled wine in 2009. Said brands are also rated according to export value in thousand dollars as well as export volume in thousand of 12-bottle cases.
In the course of January and February, bottled wine exports grew 24.5% in value and 12.1% in volume, which means that wine shipments went from USD 75.5 million in 2009 to USD 94.0 million in 2010, and from 28.4 million to 31.8 million liters.
From the US, spokespeople for the 300 Champagne houses refuted media reports –among them one published by WineSur– which stated that there had been a marked slowdown in Champagne sales.
Out of Canada’s ten main bottled wine suppliers, only Argentina, Spain, Portugal and South Africa have increased their exports.
The value of bottled wine imports into the United States was USD 3,282 million during 2009, which represented a 13.5% fall with respect to 2008, when the imported value amounted to USD 3,785 million. The US imported 654 million liters in 2008 and 646 million in 2009, which amounted to a 1.3% drop in volume.
Total wine exports during the first month of this year, measured by value, grew 26.7% in relation to the same month of last year, with an increase from USD 43.6 million to USD 55.2 million. However, the total volume exported during that period dropped by 2.23 million liters, that is to say, 9.1% with respect to last year.
In 2009 the value of Malbec exports rose by 21.5% with respect to 2008, increasing from USD 194 million to USD 235 million. Malbec exports also increased by 23.4% in volume during that period, when 6.8 million 9-liter boxes were exported.
Although 2009 was a difficult year for the Argentinian wine industry, bottled wine exports continued to grow. However, growth was moderate if compared with higher rates in the previous years, with only an approximate 10% rise in value and 2% rise in volume.
Wine grew at a slightly faster rate than spirits in the second term of 2009, according to Nielsen scan data from food, drug and major market liquor stores in United States.
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