Rosé wine increasingly trendy in Western Europe
Hit the patio in cities like London, Paris or Rome and you may notice a recurring sight: young, female drinkers sipping on glasses of blush pink rosé wine.
It used to be dismissed as just a summertime drink, shunned by oenophiles as a pseudo wine. But according to a recently released report by global market research group Euromonitor, while sales of still red and light wines declined in Western Europe in 2011, sales of rosé wine grew 3 percent last year.
The primary consumer? Young women, who are attracted by the fact that it's an easy drinking, accessible beverage that doesn't require a broad knowledge of different wine varietals, said lead analyst Katharina Oldenkotte in an audio podcast.
Meanwhile, overall volume sales of wine in Western Europe declined by one percent in 2011 due to a combination of negative factors. The tumultuous economic climate of Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy, where the unemployment rate continues to climb, has forced consumers to tighten their belts and eliminate little luxuries. Furthermore, high market saturation and per capita consumption also limit overall growth opportunities for wine producers, says Oldenkotte. The average per capita wine consumption in Western Europe, for instance, is 33 liters per year.
According to the Conseil Interprofessionel des Vins de Provence, which represents winemakers from the south of France, rosé has become a full-fledged trend in that country, with consumption rising nearly 15 percent from 1990 to 25 percent in 2010. During the same period, consumption of red wine dropped from 78 percent to 58 percent in France.
The group attributes the growing trend in rosé to the fact that meals have become less structured in France.
Consumers are also looking for greater simplicity, they say, adding calling rosé "a wine that symbolizes greater freedom."
A Neilsen report released earlier this year also found that sales of imported rosé wines grew 14 percent in volume in the US last year, marking the seventh straight year of growth in the market.
Rosé accounts for about eight percent of worldwide wine production.
