New Zealand continues to lead the way in UK wine merchants and supermarkets

New Zealand continues to lead the way in the UK in wine merchants and supermarkets, with both sales volume and value growing in the UK to stretch its lead as the top premium country in the UK.

New Zealand now sells £483 million of wine to the UK, up 6.6% Nielsen data (MAT to 6 October 2018). Sauvignon Blanc is still the flagship and now accounts for 47% of all Sauvignon Blanc sold in wine retailers and supermarkets. But Pinot Noir is growing rapidly and New Zealand has cemented itself as the leading supplier of premium red wines with an average price of £9.43 for their reds which is almost a third higher than any other country.

The value of sales to the UK is up but so is the volume up 6.3% to 6,597,000 cases. The US is still New Zealand’s key export market by value, but the UK is slightly ahead in volume. In fact in the UK, with its much lauded premium pricing for NZ wines, is the country with the lowest average price of all New Zealand's top 15 key markets, according to the New Zealand Vine Growers 2018 annual report.