American Wines Fly High in the UK

According to a recent report in British newspaper The Evening Standard, last year marked the first 12 months, ever, that US wines outsold French ones in the UK. Yet, despite the rise in desire for American vino, we're still only number two in England, falling just short of Australian vintners.

According to the report, "The popularity of Californian rosé, combined with a slump in demand for cheaper French wines put the US second behind Australia. Sales of US wine grew five per cent to £781 million in the year to November, while French sales slumped three per cent to £780 million. Production volumes of US wine have also overtaken France's, growing three per cent to 140 million litres, while France's slipped seven per cent to 130 million litres."

The author goes on to point out that California rosé has become extremely popular amongst women drinkers. That particular varietal saw an 18% increase from just one year ago. There's a lot of speculation as to what put California over the top, and a lot of people seem to have drawn a similar conclusion, which I think is summed up fairly well in the article.

“The Californians do very well what the French don't — which is to find out what the customer wants.”