Irish wine market shows rapid expansion, says survey
A survey carried out for Vinexpo, a French-based wine exhibition organiser, shows that although Britain and Ireland still lag behind countries like France and Italy in wine consumption, we are catching up fast, alongside Scandinavian countries.
In 1990 there were 1.5 million cases of wine sold in Ireland. That figure rose to almost five million in 2001 and showed a further 20% rise in the first four months of 2002. The rate for this year is expected to breach six million.
Although still the lowest rate in the EU, the market for table wine in Ireland has more than doubled in the past decade. According to the Wine Development Board of Ireland, almost half of Irish adults drink wine regularly compared to 28% in 1990.
This is despite the fact that we pay far more tax on our bottle than the average tippler on the continent. Excise duty on a bottle of table wine amounts to €2.05 in Ireland.
That compares to €1.80 in Britain, 71c in Denmark and a mere three cent in France. There is no duty on wine in Italy, Spain, Germany or Greece.
The amount of tax Irish drinkers pay on sparkling wine is even higher, at €4.10, five times the EU average.
The British palate for wine has shown an even more marked increase with consumers there favouring more expensive wines.
On average, Britons drink 29 bottles a year each with that number likely to increase sharply by 2006.
But both Britain and Ireland still lag far behind the world’s biggest drinkers - the French - who consume 79 bottles per head every year.
Val Smith, the chairman of the International Wine and Spirit Record, which co-wrote the report, said the days when people only drank decent wines at Christmas had long disappeared.
“The drive is coming from women aged under 40. Their partners find it embarrassing with their pints when the women drink wine,” he said.
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