Rosé wine sales in the United Kingdom and United States are booming, but The Key Report believes winemakers aren't doing enough to keep up with demand, describing our exports as "disappointing".

Australian worldwide rosé export figures have declined steadily in the past five years, down from 18.5m litres in 2012 to 10.6m litres in 2016. Meanwhile, according to stats from Wine Australia, exports to the UK almost halved between 2014 and 2016, at a time when rosé is the "it" wine with consumers.  

The Guardian reports that sales of rosé at popular supermarket chain Waitrose rose by 104% last summer, while recent research by the Co-op named rosé as the country's most popular wine, beating prosecco.

Another factor fuelling rosé's popularity is the "frosé " craze that's sweeping the world. Frosé is a drink made by freezing rosé with lemon juice and sugar - a grown-up version of a Slush Puppie.

It's a more positive story for Australian rosé in the US - according to Wine Australia, exports almost doubled from $319,069 to $635,459 between 2014 and 2016. 

But The Key Report author Tony Key notes: "The US, which is reporting incredible growth of rosé wine sales, came 7th in the list of countries to which Australian exports rosé, accounting for just $635,458 in 2016. It is the French that are benefiting from the American rosé fad."

Wines of Provence, for example, announced last year that for the 12th straight year, exports of rosé wines from Provence to the United States grew by double digits.

Research firm Nielsen also shows that while US table wine sales in 2015 overall increased just 1.9% by volume and 5.3% in value, the imported rosé category grew by 56.4% volume and 60.4% in value. But those numbers are dwarfed by the growth of Provence rosé imports during the same period: 58% volume and 74% value.

According to United States Trade Tasting "together, France and the US consume nearly half of the annual 594.4 million gallons of rosé produced globally." 

While selling Australian rosé to France would be a bit like selling ice to eskimos, it does seem there is plenty of untapped potential for rosé exports to the US and UK to increase even further. 

Among the Aussie companies capitalising on the rosé wave is The Great Australian Wine Company, which tells The Lead it's having remarkable success in the United States with the 14 brands it represents including Woodstock, Wicks Estate, Tomfoolery, Rymill and Koonara.

“The Grenache revolution that seems to be happening at the moment is fantastic, the Rose market in the US is unbelievable and we have a whole Rose portfolio where we group all of them together and it gives customers massive options to choose from, which has been of great benefit to us," said owner Tony Gray.

 

 

 

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