If a recent report is to be believed, Spain is the most popular winemaker in the world. In 2015, Spain sold 2.4 billion liters of wine compared to 2 billion liters French wine. What is, however, interesting is that in spite of selling much more wine, Spain earned only €2.6 billion ($2.8 billion) compared to €8 billion ($8.7 billion) earned by French wine and €5bn by Italian wine, according to the Spanish Wine Market Observatory.
In an interview with the Independent, Spanish Wine Market Observatory head, Rafael del Rey, said that while the situation was certainly frustrating, they are aware what they need to do with the French. Stating that they needed to change their marketing strategy, Rey said they should reduce sale of wine in bulk to other producers and concentrate on Spanish wine, which indicated its origin.
Citing the example of Italy, Rey said Italy also faced a similar situation 15 years back, but currently wine producers in Italy have nearly doubled the price of their wines. He was optimistic that the Spanish wine industry too would completely different a decade later.
Spanish wines are of top quality and possess the aptitude to compete with the best wines available anywhere worldwide; a NBC report quoted Eric Lagarde, who represents M. Touton Selection, a major wine distribution company in the United States, as saying. Lagarde further said, "And for the most part they are great value - especially right now with a stronger dollar."
In fact, the whole of European Union, especially France, Spain and Italy, have all witnessed a surge in their wine exports following higher demands from the United States and China. The news relating to the success of Spanish vinters comes in the wake of a report that revealed that popularity of wine is on the rise among millennials.
According to a report in The Drinks Business magazine, president of the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins Jean-Marie Barillère is of the view that currently the European Union is among the most important wine exporters globally and, following three years of relative stability, the union has achieved the best ever performance in 2015."
