With almost 57 million back labels delivered from January to December, annual sales reached a new record high in the Rueda appellation in 2011.
Throughout 2011, the Rueda appellation was able to consolidate its trend over the last few years of higher annual sales growth, having delivered over the 12 months of 2011 a total of 56,927,829 back labels (issued to wineries for purchase orders), which amounts to an increase of 13.44% in sales. In spite of the negative context of the wine market and of the economy overall, the excellent value for money of Rueda wines was rewarded by consumer loyalty in the market.
99.54% of all the back labels issued corresponded to white wine sales, totalling 56,664,735 back labels. In this total “RUEDA VERDEJO” featured in even higher volume in 2011, making up 56.47% of the white wine total with 31,998,341 back labels issued (against 50.53% of the white wine total in 2010), increasing its share over the “RUEDA” type wines, which went down from 46.11% to 39.93%. The ever greater presence of Verdejo grapes in the wines of the Rueda appellation has brought about the growth of the RUEDA VERDEJO type, which is now unquestionably the most representative, being made from Rueda’s indigenous grape variety.
Despite this very encouraging news in the context of the present economic situation, the Rueda Control Board is exercising caution regarding prospects for 2012, a year in which two factors may play an important role: the difficult situation facing consumers and the strong movements in price witnessed in the wine market throughout 2011. These factors are adversely affecting profitability in the wine sector, and in particular among vine growers.
During the period of 2011, three new wineries registered with the Rueda appellation (Cantos de Rueda S.L., Unzu Propiedad S.L. and Pago Traslagares S.L.). At the same time, the total surface area of the appellation grew by 890 hectares (2,198 acres) compared with the previous harvest campaign, bringing the overall total to 12,590 hectares(31,097 acres) at the time of the 2011 harvest.