Photo : D.R.
From 1-3 February in Angers, the 24th edition of the Loire wine fair will take place. This event will help facilitate meetings between more than 600 exhibitors and some 9,000 French and foreign buyers (from Germany, China, USA, Japan, Holland, United Kingdom, Russia and more). The fair’s international focus (14% foreign visitors) is strengthened by the organisation of a business convention, which, for its 3rd edition, has scheduled nearly 400 individual meetings between individuals placing goods on the market and new international buyers. Two big contests will occur over the course of the fair: the 16th Loire wine contest, organised by the French Oenologists’ Federation, and the contest for the best Loire wine sommelier, organised by the French Union of Sommeliers.
The Angers fairgrounds will feature vast debates on Loire vineyards, above all. The assessment of the 2009 campaign is clear: while the demand for Loire wines has remained steady, estate stocks have globally dropped (-8%), with the exception of the Centre region. The wine-producing parts of the Loire are resisting the crisis rather well: when the storehouses released their 2009 products, everything produced was sold (47% trade sales, 42% private buyers and 11% cooperative sales), and the lack of availability led to price increases that affected prices for consumers. Storehouse releases (2,090,268 hectolitres) have dropped compared to the 2008 harvest (2,672,000 hectolitres). Muscadet is the name that has suffered the most, with an extremely weak harvest.
Refocusing on domestic consumption
On the large distribution network, which represents 50% of the Loire wine market in France, the Loire Valley represents 5.8% of the volume and 6.7% of the market share value out of the steadily thriving French wine market. Strictly “wines of quality produced in determined regions” (VQPRD), they hold the third place nationwide, behind Bordeaux and the Rhone Valley, which respectively have 12.1% of the market volume and 11.4 % of the market share value. Generally speaking, the crisis has pushed consumers to refocus on home consumption. The lack of availability, especially in terms of white wines, has provoked a contraction of the Loire wine offer on the shelves, notably of the lowest-priced wines: from 37.8 shelf references in 2008, Loire wines have dropped to 37.1 references (on average in French hyper and supermarkets).
Red wines have seen a more substantial drop in volume (-4.1%) than in value (-0.8%). However, certain wines are playing their cards right, including Bourgueil (+7.4% in volume and value) and Saumur Champigny (+1.8% in volume and +3.5% in value). Despite a significant drop, Loire whites remain number one in terms of
volume (28.2%) and value (23.7%). While Muscadet is suffering, it has still managed to conserve its second place position behind Riesling, despite a 46% price increase (!). Quincy represents 11.9% of the market share and has progressed in volume by 8%, compared to last year. The Loire rosés, second in terms of volume and value, have decreased in volume (-5.2%) and more in terms of value (-6.9%), a consequence of the lack of availability of Anjou Cabernets.
For the sixth consecutive year, bubbles are seeing their volume (+5.4%) and their value (+10.1%) increase. This increase is benefiting names such as Saumur, Vouvray and Crémant de Loire.
Further information at www.salondesvinsdeloire.com
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