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Wine exports from the United States reach record levels

Published:  27 February, 2014

Wine exports from the United States reached a record $1.55 billion in 2013 up 16.4% on 2012 with California now accounting for 90% of all American wine sold around the world.

The total volume of wine shipped from the US reached 435.2 million litres (48.4m cases), up 7.5% and it is on course to hit an industry target of $2billion in exports by 2020.

California is now exporting a fifth of the wine it produces, according to the Wine Institute of California.

"Consumers across the globe continue to recognise the quality, diversity and value of California wines, despite significant trade barriers and heavily subsidised foreign competitors," said Robert P Koch, California Wine Institute president and chief executive.

 "Our outstanding 2012 and 2013 California vintages, heralded for quality as well as quantity, were a record high so we have the ability to expand."

The EU now accounts for $617 million of the Californian wine market, up 31% on 2012, which represents 20% of Californian wine exports.

John McLaren, the UK head of Wine Institute of California, said: "Recent changes to the structure of the UK market have produced further opportunities for growth and development. Having a consistent and abundant supply of quality wine will enable us to maximise those opportunitie."

Its other key markets are: Canada ($454m) up 12%; Japan ($102m) down 7%; Hong Kong( $78 m) down 12%; China ($77m) up 6%; Mexico ($22m) up 21%; and South Korea ($18m) up 16%.

California is increasingly positioning its export message around the "beautiful landscapes, iconic lifestyle, great wine and food, and as an environmental leader," said the Wine Institute's Linsey Gallagher, vice president international marketing.

It has launched a consumer website, www.discovercaliforniawines.com, which has been translated into Chinese and will soon be available in seven other languages.

The Wine Institute said it was working with the US government in key export markets like China to try and "lower tariffs and eliminate unnecessary technical barriers in our key export markets".

This includes working closely with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 'Wine Regulators Forum' which looks to "eliminate burdensome and duplicative regulations" across the region.

"This five-year project will help significantly reduce the costs of cross-border wine trade, stimulate demand and increase U.S. exports to this important region," said Tom LaFaille, Wine Institute vice president and international trade counsel.

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