Foreign Wine in the French Market
France is globally renowned as one of the world’s top wine-exporting countries, having shipped $13.1 billion worth of wine in 2022. Leading destinations included the United States ($2.55B), United Kingdom ($1.68B), Germany ($897M), Japan ($789M), and Belgium ($712M).
Despite its strong domestic production and deep-rooted wine culture, foreign wines maintain a presence in the French market. In 2022, France purchased over $1.12 billion worth of wine from abroad, placing it among the top ten wine-consuming countries by value of international purchases.
Top countries supplying wine to France include1:
- Italy ($291M)
- Spain ($268M)
- Portugal ($112M)
- United States ($77.8M)
- United Kingdom ($56.8M)
Wine distribution in France
The vital signs are good for France’s wine economy. This is, after all, a country of more than 65 million adults, the Eurozone’s second largest economy according to the OEC, with a viticulture that stretches back for thousands of years. Wine-drinking, though decreasing amongst some health-conscious segments of the younger population, is deeply rooted in modern France, and the old prejudices about foreign wine are beginning to wane. As the climate warms, it is even possible to conceive of what would before have been unthinkable: quality English champagne. France’s major imports begin, however, with the rest of the Mediterranean – Spain, Italy and Portugal – before reaching over the Atlantic towards the USA and Chile.
It should be obvious that France consumes an enormous amount of wine: 3.5 billion bottles a year, according to Vins du Monde. More than 60% come from supermarkets, an area in which small distributors may wish to be involved. As it stands, e-commerce sits on 10% of sales, which is more or less the same as wine merchants and other traditional vendors, though wineries would be unwise to bet against a rise in internet sales. Clearly, the French also love wine in restaurants, where a third of all bottles are consumed. Restaurant mark-ups, however, mean that the value of these purchases are closer to two thirds of the market. The average price of wine in France is exactly €3.90 per litre, though there are also import tariffs to consider: according to the OEC, the average tariff for a bottle of wine entering France is around 7%.
Wine consumer preferences in France
According to a survey conducted in 2023 by SOWINE/DYNATA Barometer2, French wine consumers primarily prefer Chardonnay (40% of respondents), Merlot and Pinot noir (27%), Cabernet Sauvignon (24%), 19% Riesling and 16% Sauvignon blanc.
But for us in this article, it is more important to pay attention to the preferences of the French in the context of imported wine, and this survey also provides useful information. So, 70% of respondents said that they drink imported wines. 29% said they increasingly prefer New World wines: Chile (7%), South Africa (5%), and Argentina (5%).
71% of people who said they drink imported wines prefer European wines, primarily wines imported from Italy (28%) and Spain (21%). At the same time, 43% of them said that they prefer non-French wines to “try new things” and because they like “their flavor”. 17% choose European wines to “extend their holiday experience.”
There are two final matters that any winery should understand about the French market, according to Statista. The first is the special place that wine holds in the French cultural imagination: this is a country of experts. The second, following logically, is the labelling of wine, either from a specific location (DOC) or not (SIG). The fact that the French, as listed on Statista, were willing to pay extra for DOC wines is indicative of the whole market: this is a country of opportunity for wine exporters, but one with the highest winemaking standards.
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