Over 1,300 wine exhibitors from more than 35 producing countries will be converging on Hong Kong in May for Vinexpo, one of the world’s largest wine fairs. Global wine sales stabilized at around 2.6 billion nine-liter cases, falling by 1.5% between 2013‒2014 (the latest available data), and research commissioned by the trade show, suggests wine consumption is expected to rise by only 1.4% in volume between 2015-2019. The data also indicates sparkling wines, which account for 8% of total consumption, could rise by 7.4%, and rosé, which accounts for 9%of all still wines, is set to grow by 2.2% during the period. Blouin Lifestyle talks to Vinexpo CEO Guillaume Deglise about the state of the market, in particular in Asia.Asia represents only 11% of wine consumption globally, what are the prospects for growth?Per capita consumption remains extremely low so perspectives for growth remain strong. China is now the leading market for wine in Asia, the fifth largest consumer market in the world, behind Germany but ahead of the UK. Since 2012, consumption has been affected by the anti-corruption drive. People use to buy wines not for their own consumption, but for gifting.This is now changing, which is a very good development for the industry. It means the market is getting a little bit more mature now.Are Chinese consumers ready to shift away from Bordeaux?It’s still the number one brand in China by far, but there is now room for other wines, not only French ones, but wine from Italy, Australia; wines from the New World generally speaking are getting quite strong there. But you shouldn’t forget that in China 80 percent of the wine consumed is actually Chinese.The focus of this year’s Vinexpo conference will be Shiraz, as the next possible trend in Asia.Shiraz is an international grape variety, mainly produced in Australia, but also produced in many other places including in China, by the way. It’s not as famous in China as Bordeaux and Cabernet Sauvignon, but it could play a very important role in the future, mainly because of the proximity to the Australian wine market, which is exporting a lot to China and the rest of Asia. [With this conference] we want to show to the rest of the producers that Shiraz has a significant role to play for the future in [China], because its consumers are getting more and more open to discovering new things. I feel it could be a trend for the future, because it’s a red grape variety, which is well accepted by consumers.The recent Vinexpo/IWSR study also showed that growth for sparkling wine is promising.Consumption of Champagne outside France was driven by Asia-Pacific, with Australia and Japan the leading markets. Rosé champagne is a big hit now in the traditional champagne markets, like France and the UK, but also the US, Japan, Italy, Belgium. It’s a niche within champagne consumption but it’s growing.Consumption of Prosecco is another big trend. It used to be considered a cheap alternative to champagne, now it has become a brand in itself, like Champagne. Its success partly reflects the price point, but also its association with the Italian way of life, it’s not sophisticated, it’s easy to drink, it’s partially sweet, women like it better, young people tend to like it better, too.Who are the main consumers now?It’s still very much Europeans. The top sparkling wine consumers like Germany, the UK, Switzerland, obviously Italy, they are consuming lots of Prosecco.What about rosé?Provence remains the leading producing region in the world and I think they have been very smart in the last few years. They’ve improved quality, they worked a lot on the labels and today, rosé from Provence is no longer considered just a seasonal drink; it is a wine that is consumed all year long and is exported. In terms of acceptance it’s still fairly recent in the US and the UK, which are the two dominating markets outside France. Asia consumes very little of it, though it’s becoming a trend in the more mature markets there like Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Chinese consumers still prefer reds, because there is a perception of higher quality and it symbolizes success and wealth.
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