Bordeaux is gearing up to sell the 2016 vintages but where are the wines likely to go?
As the wine worlds glitterati starts to get excited about Bordeaux 2016 en premier campaign, we take a quick tour of where the wines are likely to land up.
The top 5 countries for Bordeaux exports are:
Germany: 5th by volume and 7th by value, like many continental European countries Germany tends to drink the cheaper end of Bordeaux and as with many European countries the volume has been dropping steadily.
UK: 4th by value and 4th by volume. Since 2007 recent high Bordeaux sales in the UK have seen a steady is somewhat uneven decline in sales with 2016 being a 10 year low for Bordeaux sales in the UK.
USA: 3rd by volume and 3rd by value. Sales have been pretty steady since the 2007/8 slump.
Belgium: 2nd by volume but 6th by value, It looks like Brussels like the cheaper stuff. The market has been dropping for a while.
China: 1st by volume and value. China has hit a new high in consumption after a previous high in 2012 was followed by a long deep slump. But this market does appear to be fickle. Recent sales figures for all wines the first two months of sales from China has seen a decline of 7.8% decline compared to the same period last year. How this will affect Bordeaux we will not know until the end of the year when full year sales figures are announced.
