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Span of the research
The research, conducted in October and November 2009, was not targeted solely at high-end consumers, the kind of drinkers who might be expected to gravitate towards the grands crus. Instead, the Vinitrac® surveys involved a representative spectrum of wine drinkers in each country, some of whom are occasional wine consumers, with no deep interest in what they drink. More than 8,400 consumers in the USA, the UK, Quebec, English-speaking Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland and Australia were included in the research. And because they were selected to provide a realistic impression of the regular wine drinkers in their respective countries, they represent more than 142m consumers across these eight markets.
Interestingly, in the biggest market of all – the US, with almost 74m wine consumers – France plays second fiddle to Italy when the question is asked: what is your favourite imported source country for wine? France only achieves a 6.4% score among US consumers, compared to 8.3% for the Italians.
But France tops the poll in Quebec, where it is the favoured imported country for almost 26% of regular wine drinkers; in the Netherlands, where 21.5% of consumers name it as their number one choice; and even in the UK, where France once reigned supreme but has been overtaken by the Australians and Italians in terms of off-trade sales (and even by the South Africans in terms of volumes). Here, almost 16% of regular wine drinkers say French wine is their favourite.
France scores poorly in Australia, with just 2% of the votes, but even this is enough to secure third place in the league table of preferred importing wine countries. It comes second (behind Australia) in English-speaking Canada, with 8%, and third in Denmark, with 14%. Only in Finland does it fail to make the top three. Overall, across all eight markets, France is selected as the number one favourite imported source country by 7% of respondents. This equates to 10m consumers. Australia emerges in second place, just ahead of Italy, and followed at some distance by Chile, South Africa, California and Spain.
Test results versus reality
Why should the research be at odds with the volume share the countries achieve in the eight markets covered by the research? It’s partly because of the success of New World brands, Wine Intelligence argues.
The same survey questioned regular wine consumers in all eight countries about their favourite wine brands. Across these markets, [yellow tail] topped the poll, followed by Blossom Hill, Jacob’s Creek, Gallo Family Vineyards and Wolf Blass. Votes from each country were weighted by the size of the wine drinking population, which meant that the USA accounted for just over half of the votes. Again, in most cases consumers say they do not have a favourite – which could be interpreted as dissatisfaction or disillusionment with brands, or perhaps a sign that |
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several brands are regarded equally favourably. This was most pronounced in Denmark and the Netherlands, two countries where more than half of regular wine consumers said they could not pick a favourite brand.
It’s entirely possible that a consumer who cites France as their favourite wine country settles for an affordable South African or Chilean wine for much of the time, trading up to their beloved chateaux or domaines when the occasion presents itself. As a result, argues Wine Intelligence business development manager Brian Howard, the research provides “a powerful guide to how the wine-buying population of each market views and ranks the wide range of imported source countries on their wine store shelves”.
The picture is complicated by two factors. Firstly, the question only applies to imported wines: producing countries are notoriously proud of their own output, and this is borne out by the research. In Australia, for example, domestically-produced wines are favoured by 68% of regular wine drinkers – which puts the 5.4% scored by New Zealand, the number one importing wine nation according to the research, into humbling context. It’s the same story in the USA. Thirty per cent of those questioned rank Californian wine above all others, and even “other USA” scores 9.5%, meaning that American consumers prefer the wines of the Pacific Northwest – and perhaps even New York and Texas – to their prized Italian Pinot Grigio.
The other detail to take on board is that most consumers in the markets covered by the research don’t have a favourite imported country of origin for their wine. “Whether it’s a source country, wine region, or wine brand, the highest response is nearly always ‘I don’t have a favourite’,” reports Howard. “Does this outcome reflect a healthy category, suggesting consumers have a broad repertoire – or a category which lacks consumer understanding and interest?” For now, it’s a question without an answer.
This article was supplied by Wine Intelligence.
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