Rioja wineries lift exports
of the year as a result of increasing demand in core markets such
as the UK and Germany. But the average price per litre continued to
fall, showing that Rioja's price problems continue to raise their
ugly head.
After a turbulent few years marked by sharp fluctuations in prices caused by over production, things appear to have settled down a little in Spain's Rioja wine region.
The latest figures from the Grupo de Criadores y Exportadores de Vinos de Rioja show that the wineries in the Denominacion de Origen Rioja exported 41.7 million litres of wine in the first eight months of the year, with a value of some €174.71 million, up 8.5 per cent on the previous year, according to a report from Europa Press.
The increase in value sales was all the more impressive given the 11.06 per cent drop in the average selling price per litre for exports during the same period, from €4.70 to €4.18.
Export volumes were some 21.9 per cent higher than in the previous year, and this in turn helped lift profits from €160.9 million to €174.7 million despite the decline in selling price.
Younger wines were the most popular Rioja wines sold on export markets, accounting for 21.8 million litres during the eight month period, up 42 per cent year-on-year. Sales of crianzas (wines aged in wood) reached 11.7 million litres, up 2.8 per cent, while sales of reservas (wines aged at least three years, of which at least one is in oak barrels) reached 6.5 million litres, up 10.3 per cent. Gran reservas wines, aged at least two years in oak, posted sales of 1.5 million litres, up 7 per cent on 2001.
Four countries registered a decline in imports of Rioja wine during the eight month period, with Denmark showing the greatest decline (just over 7 per cent), followed by Japan (2.37 per cent), Finland (2.36 per cent) and Switzerland (2.16 per cent).
The UK remained at the top of the list of Rioja importers, accounting for 11.05 million litres (27 per cent of the total) and rising 20.8 per cent in the eight month period. Germany is the next largest market, with imports of 8.4 million litres, up a massive 72.1 per cent, followed by Switzerland and Sweden with imports in excess of 3 million litres each.
