As is normal for this time of year, with summer holidays getting underway, the bulk markets of the Northern Hemisphere are quiet. Compounding the quietness this time is the slowness of wine’s retail sales through 2023 amid continued inflationary pressure on consumers, and the lag this is injecting into loading schedules. Together with the slow sales, elevated input costs make holding inventory unattractive; therefore, the majority of current activity is for limited volumes.
The markets of the Southern Hemisphere are a little more active, in so far as there has been good international demand for Chile’s 2023 varietal whites (Pinot Grigio is already running low), as well as Australia’s (entry-level Chardonnay is quickly becoming allocated or sold out). In both countries, as well as in South Africa and Argentina, demand for varietal reds is slow.
While we have got used to saying the white wine market is relatively more robust than the red, it does feel like the former is now showing a little weakness: good volumes of 2023 Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay remain available in South Africa, while a 2023 crop just 6% smaller than 2022’s record vintage has softened pricing on New Zealand’s Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, old vintage and new. Spain still has 2022 varietal whites to sell, while the mainly white wine-producing southwestern areas of France are potentially on track for their first good-sized crop in three years, just as new plantings come on stream and demand from the Cognac industry has reduced.
Indeed, outside the central and southern growing areas of Italy, suffering from mildew pressure amid frequent rain and humidity, there are – as yet – no market-moving alarms emanating from the Northern Hemisphere vineyards. With bulk wine supply seemingly long from a global perspective, much buyer attention, in any case, feels focused on other matters. As the Italy page says this month: lower consumer sales of wine, elevated input costs and interest rates, reduced cashflow, and less credit, “is likely to hurt those companies eking by on little to no profit – and such companies make up a large proportion of the wine industry” around the world.
But for those with some financial elbow room, those able to – in the words of Warren Buffet – “get greedy when others are fearful”, now is potentially a moment of opportunity. The slow market pace, and some corresponding downwardly-trending prices, have opened up some excellent price-quality availabilities – some of them multi-year, and/or that come along only rarely, and/or that dovetail with the pressing need to innovate and communicate with younger consumers at a time when demographic change is seeing wine’s share of alcohol consumption decline. The cut-through of new brands – or re-energised pre-existing ones – can be greater at a time when competitors have lowered their voices.
For the very latest opportunities, get in touch with Ciatti direct; the team can combine its many decades of experience with the most up-to-the-minute intel to help buyers and sellers identify growth. In the meantime, read on for detailed updates on each market.