Bordeaux wine sales flat as crisis hurts demand

Bordeaux winemakers saw their sales stagnate last year as the global economic slowdown caused a drop in demand late in the year, but drinkers paid more for the wine they did buy.

 

Figures released Thursday by the Bordeaux winemakers association showed sales of Saint-Emilion, Medoc and other Bordeaux wines last year were 750 million bottles, flat on a year earlier.

 

As you can imagine, our sector hasn't escaped the crisis," said Alain Vironneau, the head of the association, told reporters at a gathering in Paris to present the 2008 results.

 

Exports, which make up just over a third of all Bordeaux sales, were particularly hard hit, with sales to European Union countries down 12 percent last year in volume terms.

 

Bordeaux remains the largest French wine region in terms of volume when considering wines of the more expensive AOC, or Appellation d'Origine Controlee, category, ahead of the Rhone Valley and the Loire Valley.

 

While volumes suffered, measured in terms of income, 2008 was saved by the high prices fetched by the well regarded 2005 vintage, the best of which hit store shelves last year, the winemakers association said.

 

Overall sales of Bordeaux wines reached euro3.84 billion (US$4.91 billion) last year, up from euro3.4 billion in 2007.