Sales of wines from the Rueda appellation continue their upward trend with a further rise during the first semester of 2011, confirmed through the issue of a total of 32,279,720 back labels (officially confirmed sales), which amounts to an increase of 10,35% compared with the same period last year (3.028.498 bottles more).
AC Nielsen has presented the Rueda appellation’s wineries with its 2010 survey of the Spanish wine market, in which it shows the appellation’s continuing positive trend despite the very negative context in the wine sector as a whole. Whilst the still wine market in general fell by 0,9%, and the market for appellation wines has been stable (last year fell by 1,5%), Rueda appellation wines performed better in 2010, growing by 15% compared with the previous year.
· THE RUEDA APPELLATION CONSOLIDATES ITS POSITION AS MARKET LEADER IN QUALITY WHITE WINES WITH A SHARE OF 32% (in 2009 it was 29,1%)
· One interesting fact is Rueda’s second position in the Spanish domestic market’s on-trade sales (hotels, restaurants, pubs and cafés), moving up from 8,9% in 2009 to 10,3% in 2010 and placing Rueda only behind Rioja and ahead of such appellations as Ribera del Duero, Navarra and La Mancha. In the off-trade, the Rueda appellation maintains its growth, rising from 2.9% to 3.4% in 2010, making this sector the object of future growth plans, since for appellation wines overall this was the only sector that experienced growth (+6.2%) reflecting the current economic situation as well as changing wine consumer habits with consumption moving more towards the home and with wine purchasing taking place more at retailers (off trade).
· Rueda wines now represent 6,7% of all Spanish appellation wines sold on the domestic market and moves onto the 4th leading appellation, only trailing such appellations as Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Valdepeñas, and with the difference that those regions sell mostly red wines that make up some 71,8% of the market, whereas Rueda specialises in white wines (21,1% of the domestic wine market).
In conclusion, and in the opinion of AC Nielsen, the wines of the Rueda appellation have now become the benchmark in quality white wines in the Spanish domestic market and are today perceived by consumers as wines of consistent reliability, helping Rueda to outperform its competitors, especially during hard economic times when consumers are less inclined to try those wines that offer no guarantees of quality. Rueda’s strong growth in the off-trade sector should also be underlined, reflecting changing consumers’ habits, moving away from the hotel and restaurant trade towards consumption at home and where the good value for money of Rueda wines augurs well for future sales growth.