Sales of wine in Ireland increased by 100,000 cases last year in spite of a continued reduction in alcohol consumption in the country.
Wine consumption rose by 0.47% in 2017, according to new figures released by the Irish Wine Association (IWA). Since 2001 the average per adult alcohol consumption in Ireland is said to have declined by 23.3%.
The IWA’s Wine Market Report notes that beer remains Ireland’s most popular alcoholic beverage, but wine is a firm second favourite.
The market share for wine increased marginally from 27.6% in 2016 to 27.7% in 2017. Beer has a 44.8% market share, down from 45.8% in 2017.
While white wine holds a 50% of the share of the wine market in Ireland, red wine fell from 47% to 45% and rosé increased from 3% to 5%.
The top two countries for sourcing wines are Chile, which has 27% of the market share, followed by Australia with 16.7%. After this, there is France (12.7%), Spain (12.6%) and Italy (9.4%).
Jim Bradley, IWA chair, said: “Today, Irish consumers are more sophisticated when it comes to food and they are blessed with an array of some of the world’s finest wines, which are ideal for food pairing. We saw wine consumption rise marginally in 2017 and the continued growth in the wider economy indicates that things remain favourable.”
The IWA noted that there are a number of challenges ahead for the wine industry in Ireland, including a possible excise increase and the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill.
The proposed legislation seeks to impose mandatory cancer warning labels on all alcohol products sold in the country.
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