Rioja sales slump to three-year low as rival appellations report record sales
February 19, 2009
By John Abbott
Rioja sales fell by up to 15% in 2008, with Rias Baixas and Castilla-La Mancha reporting marked increases in sales.
According to statistics released by DOC Rioja's regulatory board, sales of Gran Reserva in 2008 fell by 14.7%, with Reserva falling 10.4%, and Crianza down 5.3%. Overall, sales of Rioja wine were down 7.5%.
Víctor Pascual Artacho, president of DOC Rioja, said the decrease was 'a significant percentage, which has placed our sales volume back to that of 2005, but Rioja remains a revered name in Spain and the rest of the world.'
He added Rioja would not lose market share to competitors. 'At the end of the crisis, DOC Rioja will be strengthened and in a better position than the rest of the Spanish regions.'
The UK was Rioja's largest customer in 2008, importing 28m litres of wine - 36% of the region's total output.
In Castilla-La Mancha, over the same period last year, wine exports increased by 19%.
DO Rias Baixas, in north-western Spain, also reported an 'exponential increase' in sales to important markets such as USA, UK, Germany and Mexico.
The Rias Baixas regulatory board said the region had doubled its exports from 1.4m litres to more than 3.3m litres between 2005 and 2008.
Sales in foreign markets rose from €9m to more than €17.7m over the 3 year period.
The Governor for Rural Affairs, Alfredo Suarez Canal said, 'These figures demonstrate the vitality and leadership of one of the appellations with the most potential and brightest futures in Spain,' he added.
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As the UK office of Wines from Rioja we feel that the above article is misleading. The figures given for Rioja are for both domestic and export sales as opposed to the export figures quoted for Castilla La Mancha and Rias Baixas. Exports from Rioja have in fact risen by 16% over the past 5 years, and by 12% in the same period quoted for the Rias Baixas region (2005-2008).
Although Rioja exports show a decline over the last year this is of 5.5% rather than the 7.5% and 15% mentioned in the article, the latter a figure for Gran Reserva sales over the past year, which are of course wholly dependent on production figures of this high quality wine. In 2008, Gran Reservas were released from the low yielding and 'good' 2002 vintage, compared to the 'excellent' 2001 that went onto the market in 2007 so it is to be expected that exports would show a dip.
UK sales figures from Nielsen show that Rioja is still in a very strong position in the UK, its largest export market. Figures to 27 December 2008 show that, although the volume of sales fell for both Rioja and Spain in general by 3%, the value of sales of Rioja remains stable. With an average price of £5.40 for a bottle of Rioja against £4.13 for Spain, the region is doing well and continues to account for a third of Spanish wine sales in the UK.
Anna Noble, account director, Wines from Rioja UK
But WHY did Rioja sales slump? Quality? Price? Other? Was it a fad? Better supply chain mgmt elsewhere? A distributor invested in other regions? Just curious.
Dan Tedford
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As the UK office of Wines from Rioja we feel that the above article is misleading. The figures given for Rioja are for both domestic and export sales as opposed to the export figures quoted for Castilla La Mancha and Rias Baixas. Exports from Rioja have in fact risen by 16% over the past 5 years, and by 12% in the same period quoted for the Rias Baixas region (2005-2008).
