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Are Sales of French Wine Falling?
November 20, 2008 1:55 PM
By CHRISTOPHE SCHPOLIANSKY, Producer, ABC News Paris
“Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé” (The new Beaujolais has arrived).
At one minute past midnight today, corks of the traditional Beaujolais nouveau wine popped in bars in little villages and towns around France.
Released traditionally on the third Thursday of November, the Beaujolais nouveau is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. It is the most popular nouveau vin, fermented for just a few weeks.
This longtime tradition is celebrated not only in France, but in many other countries around the world, with creative events from midnight pajama parties to cases of wine being delivered by celebrities.
“The Beaujolais Nouveau is festive. It is a tradition here in the U.S., with more than 250 events organized nationwide around the Beaujolais Nouveau,” Franck Duboeuf, managing director of Les Vins de Georges Dubeouf, the largest négociant of Beaujolais in the world, told ABCNews.com from New York, where he is attending his 26th Beaujolais Nouveau launch.
But far from the optimism about the Beaujolais shown by professionals -- who could see their wine production this year at its lowest level since 1975 due to difficult weather conditions in the region (sun, no rain, cold temperatures) -- some experts fear a drop in sales, accentuated by the ongoing global financial crisis and a general slowdown of the wine market.
“The apparition of the global crisis has amplified this phenomenon of slowdown on the wine market since the beginning of the year,” Renaud Gaillard, vice president of the Federation of Exporters of Wines and Spirits of France (FEVS), told ABCNews.com.
In 2007, exportations of the Beaujolais Nouveau dropped by 21.4 percent in volume compared to the previous year, with more than 17 million bottles exported to over 100 countries for a value of $55 million, according to FEVS. Japan and the United States are the two biggest importers of Beaujolais Nouveau. An average of 50 million bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau are produced each year.
“The drop in the exportation of Beaujolais Nouveau could be explained by the fact that maybe today, consumers are a bit less sophisticated in their mode of consumption and are less inclined to drink products of this type,” Gaillard explained.
But ironically, while the rest of Beaujolais wines could see a drop in sales, the Beaujolais Nouveau could actually benefit from the current global crisis. “In this global economic context, consumers have certainly less money to buy our products which are nonessential consumer goods, and this can benefit entry or mid-level products such as the Beaujolais Nouveau,” a bottle of which ranges in price from a few euros in France to about $10 in the Untited States, Gaillard added.
First tasters say this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau has raspberry tones.
“I taste the Beaujolais Nouveau every year. It’s a tradition. And I can tell you that this year, it tastes good. I’m not disappointed,” Raphael Montagud told ABCNews.com at Le Balto, a bar in Levallois-Perret, just outside Paris.
November 20, 2008 in Christophe Schpoliansky | Permalink | User Comments (7)
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I hope so. over hyped. $2 buck chuck beats in in blind taste tests
Posted by: al | Nov 20, 2008 6:23:01 PM
On Drudge Report, we find that Iran has enough enriched Uranium to make a nuclear weapon. On ABC News, we find that FRENCH WINE SALES ARE FALLING? Wow, this is sad.
Posted by: Patriot | Nov 20, 2008 10:58:31 PM
Beaujolais is not a "sophisticated" wine. Unlike most wines, it gets worse, not better with age.
I drink Beaujolais but I am not impressed with most of what we get in America from France. If you like Beaujolais and ever go to a restaurant in France, don't get any expensive wine: ask for the house red and you'll get a Beaujolais superior to anything we get in the USA.
But you can get French Beaujolais as good as any other in the USA for $6 to $8 at some stores. Louis Jadot Beaujolais Village is a good choice. I really like a cheap one called "Les Trois Voutes" but can't find it locally anymore.
Posted by: The_Mick | Nov 20, 2008 11:59:15 PM
"Exportations" is not a word. "Exports" will do just fine.
The Spirit of George Bush will be with us for a long time, I fear.
Posted by: j_in_neast | Nov 21, 2008 10:07:59 AM
if we can't afford Starbucks we can't afford french wine. let the gov. bail them out
Posted by: jim | Nov 21, 2008 10:54:18 AM
"Less sophisticated consumers?" One
could take this as an insult. Beaujolais
is a very mediocre wine and doesn't
deserve any celebration, so I'm told by
my French wife.
Posted by: brock | Nov 21, 2008 3:47:46 PM
Are sales of French Wine falling? Do we care? This is why Worldview is "what makes the news and what doesn't." This, my friends, is what doesn't.
Posted by: Patriot | Nov 24, 2008 7:49:56 PM
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