South African Wine Outsells French in the UK Market

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed)
Feb 23rd 2010 at 7:01PM

The latest Nielsen numbers show that South African wine sales have outpaced French wine in the UK for the first time ever, due to South African wine sales growing 20% while French wine sales dropped by 12%. South Africa is now ranked fourth for selling wine in the UK market.

South Africa has been producing wine for centuries but only in the last 15-20 years have exports really begun to grow. This news shows that UK (and world?) shoppers have made a significant shift and no longer 'default' to European brands. Jo Mason, UK market manager, Wines of South Africa, was quoted as saying "This is a momentous occasion for the South African wine industry."

And a bad one for the French.

South Africa is clearly excited and looks for their wine to experience even more success as tourists flock to their country for the FIFA World Cup this year.

Tags: french wine, FrenchWine, south african wine, SouthAfricanWine, wine