Again, working with recent data, our favourite wines in the UK are
reported to be:
1. Crisp white wines (like sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio) which were
enjoyed by 41% of people. Perhaps not a surprise, in my view. The go to
sort of wines for many people.
2. Full bodied reds (most, here, would think of a shiraz, malbec or
cabernet sauvignon I guess) which were enjoyed by 38% of people.
3. Prosecco was next on the list, which was enjoyed by 34% of people. So,
yes, the craze is still in full flow!
4. According to the survey, and lagging behind Prosecco, is Champagne
which was enjoyed by 24% of people. This proves, I guess, that with
Prosecco in third spot, we still have an unquenchable thirst for ‘fizz’ in
the UK.
5. Next comes the light red brigade. Most here will be thinking of Pinot
Noir. Here 23% of people enjoyed these wines. Hardly surprising, in my
view, bearing in mind the quality of, particularly, new world pinots these
days.
6. Blush wines come next with 22% of those surveyed enjoying them.
Here we are in the realms of wines like white zinfandel and perhaps is
indicative of the fact that there are many of us out there with a sweet
tooth!
7. Then we come to oaked white Chardonnay which was enjoyed by
17% of those surveyed. Historically the heavily oaked white Chardonnay
wines from around the world have been a bit like marmite – you either
loved them or hated them! I was, historically, in the latter camp here.
However, I have recently discovered some fabulous oaked Chardonnays.
They have got better and better and today you can find wonderful, well
balanced wines.
wine, by volume, to the UK. In 2016, the UK imported some 24.5 million
nine litre cases of Australian wines from Australia. That is equivalent to
nearly 300 million bottles of wine. This was followed by the US, which
accounted for 15.7 million nine litre cases of wine. Wines from France
came in third with 15 million cases. Next in the list was Italy which
exported 14.7 million nine litre cases of still wine into the UK, followed
by Spain, Chile and South Africa.
A well as Italy sending over 14.7 million cases of still wine, it also sent to
us, here in the UK, around 8.2 million cases of sparkling wine too. This
is almost entirely down to our insane love of Prosecco and puts Italian
Prosecco well ahead of Champagne and Cava in the list.
So much for volume. What about value?
Data from Statista in 2018 reveals that in terms of value, Italy tops the
table, having exported just over £697 million worth of wine into the UK.
In a close second place France exported nearly £690 million worth of
wine into the UK; with Australia in third with exports of just under £255
million. Perhaps a good example that quantity does not always equate
to price or value, and sometimes not to quality either. That is not to say
that there are not some fantastic wines being imported from places like
Australia; they produce some of the world’s finest wines. However, it
does indicate that per volume, wines from some countries have a higher
average cost or value than from others.
It is clear, both historically and now, that the UK wine market is heavily
reliant on international trade. In 2019-20, wine imports are expected
to satisfy 92.8% of domestic demand. However, it would be completely
wrong not to recognise the fact that English (and Welsh) wine is growing
in popularity and is increasingly recognised as a premium wine-producing
region, with more than 450 wineries and around 3.15 million bottles of
wine produced a year. The global reputation of the UK Wine Production
industry is growing year by year, particularly when it comes to producing
premium-quality sparkling wine.
8. Finally, we come to English sparkling wines and rose. They may be
in this position simply because they are not as available, everywhere,
as other wines. They may be in this position because they are not,
automatically, everyone’s go to wines (particularly outside the summer
months). Perhaps last on the list, but they are wines that on the whole,
specifically with English Sparkling and Provence rose, are outstanding. Wine for entertaining
Which country imports the highest equivalent dollar value worth of
wine? It is entertaining with wine that I come to last. Restaurants and wine
bars – yes. Dinner parties and barbeques– yes. But perhaps the best
example is the United Kingdom’s Government Wine Cellar. This provides
wine "to support the work of Government Hospitality". The cellar itself
was founded in 1908, and since 1922 has been housed in the cellar at
Lancaster House in London. It is managed by the Government Butler and
comes under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Office.
So we like alcohol, as a nation, and wine comes in first place when it
comes to our favourite tipple. Most people like a variety of wines. But
where do we feature in the world rankings when it comes to importing
wine? Data published in 2019 identifies the 15 countries that imported
the highest dollar value worth of wine during 2018 (the figure in brackets
represents the % total of worldwide imports).
1.United States: US$6.5 billion (17%); 2. United Kingdom: $4.4 billion
(11.5%); 3. Germany: $3.1 billion (8.2%); 4. China: $2.9 billion (7.5%);
5. Canada: $2 billion (5.3%); 6. Japan: $1.7 billion (4.4%); 7. Hong Kong:
$1.5 billion (4.1%); 8. Netherlands: $1.4 billion (3.6%); 9. Switzerland:
$1.2 billion (3.2%); 10. Belgium: $1.2 billion (3%); 11. France: $1.1 billion
(3%); 12. Russia: $1.1 billion (2.8%); 13. Sweden: $782.7 million (2.1%);
14. Denmark: $742 million (2%); 15. Singapore: $659 million (1.7%)
So, today, the evidence is pretty conclusive - the UK is one of the top
three import markets for wine in the world. In 2018 we imported $4.4
billion worth of wine into the UK. No wonder it is all around us. However,
historically, this is nothing new. The UK actually has a long history of
wine consumption and, as a historically nonproducing country when
it comes to wine (although this has been changing in recent years), the
UK has had a very long involvement in the international wine trade. It
continues to do so.
Where do we get most of our wine from?
When we talk about the UK wine market, we are talking about all of us
who buy and drink wine in the UK. The cost of wine varies enormously;
so does quality. Some people buy wine to drink themselves, or with a
friend or a member of the family. Some people buy wine to entertain with.
Estimates have variously, over the years, put the number of bottles at
between 33,000 and 39,000 and worth several million pounds sterling.
The wines have included those from Château Latour, Château Lafite,
Cheval Blanc, Cos d’Estournel, Mouton Rothschild and Le Pin. These
have been cellared alongside many different types of Champagne and
some valuable port and cognac. Interestingly, though, English and Welsh
wines are estimated to make up a large proportion of the wines served
from the cellar. In 2016 this was estimated to be anywhere between 44% -
52% and has since risen to somewhere in the region of 57% according to
statistics. Of these English sparkling wines were the most popular.
So those that rule us, when they entertain, have access to some great
wines. The cellar, though, is self-funding, with an independent body
in charge of buying stocks of vintage wine, keeping them for a number
of years and then selling them for profit at auction. The money is then
used to buy cheaper wine to be drunk at government events that year.
Interestingly very few bottles of spirits are drunk at all.
So, there we are. We love wine. The government loves wine. All is well
in the UK!
The literal answer is – from all over the place. Data published jointly by
Vinexpo and IWSR, in 2018, shows that Australia exports the most still
wirrallife.com 43