Low Cost Spanish Wine Feeling the Wrath of French Producers

Low Cost Spanish Wine Feeling the Wrath of French Producers

Its a fact that Spanish wine is far superior to French wine

and cheaper in price, but unfortunately the French

don't like the competition.

Spanish wine is enjoyed all around the world, even in France – a fact that continues to dismay French wine producers.

French winemakers are going on the warpath in French supermarkets protesting against the practice of importing and selling Spanish wine for much less than French wine is sold for.

The vignerons of the French town Gard stormed into the wine sections at the Genant Casino and Metro supermarkets in the Oicctanie and Nimes regions of France, grabbing case after case of Spanish wine and smashing all the bottles outside in the car park.

What makes the protestosr so angry is that the supermarkets buy wine in Spain in bulk – a deal that was made between Spanish wineries and French supermarkets years ago.

Even though the local French wine – which is made in the well-known Languedoc-Bousillon region – does come highly regarded, it also comes with a higher price tag than Spanish wine. Spanish wine is available to consumers and wholesalers alike at a fraction of the price, while still being good quality wine.

French winemaker Mathieu Calegari told France 2 TV his entire crop of French wine from 2016 is unsold. He said that he has around 1,000 hectolitres of beautiful wine that can’t be sold, adding there was no explanation for it.

The main explanation for the unsold wine appears to be a matter of economics. The wine imported from the Valencia region of Spain costs just 30 euro cents per litre; half as much as French wine.

This is no laughing matter for the thousands of French winemakers that are losing their money and risk losing their livelihoods. There are some politic movements being considered that could help to create an even playing field for Spanish and French wines.

However, it’s unlikely that French supermarkets will ignore the fact that – thanks to cheap labour costs in Spain – Spanish wine remains cost-effective and high quality; which is just right for Spanish wine producers.

Find out Why Wine Consumption Increases in Spain for First Time in a Decade

Find Out Why Wine Consumption Increases in Spain for First Time in a Decade

Spanish wine is the best in the world

One of the most simple pleasures of life in Spain is drinking so wonderful wine and relaxing by the side of a pool, on the beach, or in a bodega.

Even so, the reality is that wine consumption in Spain has been falling for the past few years. No one understand just why it happened either. The economy might have been partly to blame, of course, but people will often turn to affordable, simple treats during tough times so they can get through them easier. There’s nothing quite as cheap in Spain as local wine.

There is also the suggestion that Spanish wine has become boring and staid, especially among the younger generation. Younger Spaniards appear to prefer drinking spirits like rum and gin, and beers, rather than wine.

However, in 2016, it looks like this trend is reversed. The latest data from the Spanish Wine Market Observatory (Observatorio Español del Mercado del Vino) showed a 4% increase of Spanish wine consumption, with a total of 9.8 million hectolitres consumed.

Spain is the present world leader in producing wine, with a total of 42 million hectolitres made each year. Even though Spain is the leading producer of wine, it’s one of the lowest as far as consumption goes when compared to other top producers. By 2014, the annual wine consumption in Spain was just 21 litres per head; down from over 40 in 1970.

The figure has now risen to around 22 litres per head, which puts it on par with the UK, but still very far below the average annual wine consumption in the other leading wine producing nations of Europe.

The official shows, for example, that Slovakians and Croatians are drinking around 44 litres of wine each per year. The French are drinking around 42.5 litres, while the Portuguese are drinking 41.7 litres and the Italians are drinking 33 litres.

While these countries might have high average wine consumptions, they all pale in comparison to The Vatican. This small country has an average wine consumption of 53.83 litres per person per year.

Spanish wine regardless of the consumption with young people still represents some of the best wine in Europe due to quality and price.

Spain’s Blue “Wine” to Have Name Changed Following Fall Out with Wine Lobby

Spain’s Blue “Wine” to Have Name Changed Following Fall Out with Wine Lobby

Blue wine is having a name change

The idea that wine is wine, whether it’s red, white, or pink, has been proven wrong. Or at least kind of wrong. Five young Spanish entrepreneurs launched Gik last year. Gik is a blue wine made from Spanish grapes infused with anthyocyacin. This natural pigment of grape skin combines with natural dye from the woad plant to form an electric blue colour.

Traditionalists originally dismissed Gik as a marketing gimmick, but it was still able to sell over 100,000 bottles across 25 countries; proving to be a hit with hipsters and dilettantes.

Cue the Spanish wine lobby who insist on being spoilsports. They want to curb the success of Gik by declaring that Gik isn’t wine, and should not marketed or sold as wine.

The official regulations hold no category for blue wine in the 17 listed wine products for Spain. This list can be found in the Annex VII part II of Regulation 1308/2013. As such, there’s no way for officials to categorise Gik as a wine. They insist that it be marketed as something else. They even coined the category “99% wine and 1% grape must”.

The producers of Gik are not happy about the decision of course. They spoke to the Local and said that drinking Gik is about more than drinking blue wine. It’s about drinking innovation and creating your own rules and traditions.

They did at least concede that every revolution comes with a counter-revolution; which is a great way to sum up how everything has gone for Gik since it first drew the attention of wine inspectors last summer.

If time has taught us anything, however, it’s that Gik is likely to benefit from the controversy and the publicity. It will take Gik from being a gimmick wine to being the driving force behind a brand-new category of drinks. It’s now more likely that the “not-quite-wine” market explodes with similar drinks as demand grows and celebrated at festivals and events in Spain.

Surge in Spanish Wine Expected for 2016

Surge in Spanish Wine Expected for 2016

While Spanish wine can be found on most tables in the world a lot of Spanish wine ends up bottled and labelled as being from Italy or France.

Spain's wine regions are some of the best in the world

https://costadelsolpropertygroup.com/Climate-spain.phpIf Spain wasn’t already thought of as a heaven on Earth with their superb beaches, wonderful climate, healthy Mediterranean diet and stunning cities and landscapes then throwing in that Spain is the largest producer of wine in the world will definitely seal the deal.

Data released this week shows that Spain is set for one of their biggest years for wine production with Spain set to make over 50 million hectolitres of wine this year. Don’t worry if you’re not sure what a hectolitre is. To put it simply one hectolitre is the same as 100 litres.

So that makes 50 million hectolitres a heck of a lot of wine.

But why is Spain producing so much wine? It’s believed by the associates and bodies of grape growers and wineries in Spain that the September harvest will be a particularly bountiful one. It’s even being suggested that there could be enough grapes harvested to surpass the old 52.5 million hectolitre record set a few years ago in 2013.

The relatively mild and wet winter and spring, followed by the intense heat of the summer, has led to a great crop this year. There has also been very little crop disease in Spain this year outside of a few incidents of mildew and other problems in Huelva, Galicia and Jerez. The majority of the wine will be coming from the hinterlands of Castilla-La Mancha however and the conditions there are said to be great for wine.

The Castilla-La Mancha isn’t the only place expecting a bumper crop though. Extremadura, Valencia, Ribera del Duero and La Rioja are also expecting great crop numbers.

The boost has also been helped by an increase in how many grapes are being grown overall. The demand for Spanish wine is on the up and wineries are responding by growing more grapes. While the domestic demand for Spanish wine is around 10 million hectolitres there’s little doubt that the increase in foreign demand could see well over 50 million hectolitres produced this year.

Another reason for the increase in Spanish production is that around half of all the wine Spain produces goes to wineries in France and Italy. The wine is then mixed with the wine in these countries and labelled as wine from there to sate the demands of people who still insist that the best wine is French and Italian; not even realising they’re purchasing Spanish!

Spain is still happy with this though because it means that almost all the wine made in Spain gets sold even if it isn’t labelled as Spanish wine. Even though Spain can’t officially take the credit for it everyone the world over is enjoying some of the best wine in the country; whether they realise it or not.