Active areas
First, generic white wine seems to be in global supply-demand balance, relatively, following the shorter 2023 harvests in Italy and Spain and 2024 harvests in Chile and South Africa. Secondly, the removal of China’s punitive import tariffs on Australian wines in March has quickly boosted Australia’s red wine shipments. Thirdly, Chile is experiencing a rebound in international demand: its bulk wine shipments were up 21.48% in January-April 2024 versus January-April 2023, when they were down 18.9%. Most other areas of the market remain slow and steady.
Chilean wine in demand
With Chile’s 2023 bulk white wine carryover very limited, the switchover to the 2024 vintage has been quick. Some wineries will quickly sell out of certain white varietals. Feedback on the quality of the white varietals has been very positive, with many Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs exhibiting fresh, crisp, cool-climate styles due to the country’s wet and cool spring. Despite it being a challenge attaining alcohol levels during the growing season, feedback on Chile’s red wine quality has been extremely positive; some have commented that 2024 is Chile’s finest red wine vintage for at least 15 years.
Tariff war?
A new developments may become regular talking point in the second half of the year. A tariff war looms between the EU and China, after the EU announced it would impose extra import tariffs on Chinese battery electric vehicles (BEVs), effective from 4th July, because “the entire BEV value chain benefits heavily from unfair subsidies in China”. On 17th June, the country announced it had commenced an anti-dumping investigation into imports of EU pork. In retaliation, China has threatened to hike tariffs on a range of EU imports, including wine. We recently detected an uptick in Chinese interest in French bulk wines, potentially in anticipation of tariffs.
Bulk opportunities
The current abundance of affordable bulk wine, from standard qualities to premium (including reds from cachet appellations of France and Coastal California), offers opportunities for new brands and product innovation. Now is a good moment to harness some eye-catching bulk wines that present an excellent price-quality ratio: Prospective buyers are urged to get in touch with us to discover the latest opportunities.
This text was supplied by Ciatti. In this ongoing period of challenging sales and higher costs, Ciatti can draw on its decades of experience to help buyers and sellers alike identify new opportunities that provide cashflow, margin, and security: don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for the very latest wine and grape market intelligence and pricing.
The text was updated on 18 June 2024 to reflect current developments, e.g. in relation to China.
