Alentejo wine exports grew 20% to €32M

Exports of Alentejo wines grew by 20% in value and 14% in quantity in the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2020, the Alentejo Regional Winegrowing Commission (CVRA) revealed on Wednesday.

In a statement sent to Lusa news agency, the CVRA indicated that, according to data from Portugal Statistics (INE), “Alentejo wine exports grew by 20% in value, with 32 million euros in revenue generated” in the first six months of this year.

The INE data also shows that “around 12 million bottles [were] sold to foreign markets, which translates into more than nine million litres exported”, which represents an increase of 14% compared to the first half of last year.

“Also, the average price per litre of wine followed the upward trend, with an increase of 5%, to 3.48 euros per litre,” the CVRA pointed out.

For CVRA president Francisco Mateus, “this growth in the first half of the year is a very positive sign of the figures” the region can reach this year.

“Usually, the second half of the year is stronger in exports,” he said, expressing confidence that 2021 could be “the year with the best results since records began.

The figures for the first half “surpass the results achieved by the region in the period before the Covid-19 pandemic”.

These positive results are leveraged by the Brazilian (+34% in value and +27% in litres), Swiss (+16% in value and +8% in litres), US (+7% in value and -0.2% in litres) and UK (+123% in value and +85% in litres) markets, it said.

The growth of Alentejo wines also occurred, between January and June, in Asian markets, “with China closing the semester at pre-pandemic levels and an increase in purchases compared to 2020 (+15% in value and +13% in litres) and Macau surpassing the total results achieved in the last two years (+227% in value and +192% in litres),” he specified.

In his analysis of the data, Francisco Mateus noted that the value of exported wine had risen more than the quantity, which resulted in an increase in the average price.

“In the ‘top 10’ of the 89 markets to which exports were made, all registered an increase in the average price, which demonstrates that the quality of Alentejo wines is recognised by importers and consumers, who are willing to pay more for the region’s wines”.

Until June, Alentejo DOC wine was sold at an average price of 5.04 euros per litre and Regional Alentejo wine at 3.06 euros per litre, which contrasts with national averages of 3.02 euros and 2.44 euros respectively.

“The figures achieved translate into a 6.4% appreciation in the average price per litre of DOC Alentejo and 2.3% in Regional Alentejano, compared to the same period last year,” the CVRA said.

Francisco Mateus praised “the exceptional reaction of Alentejo producers”, who “are managing to work the international markets very well, despite the difficulties imposed by the pandemic that has already lasted a year and a half and which makes it more difficult to monitor markets locally and the work of importers and retailers”.

In the first six months of last year, the Alentejo exported 8.1 million litres of wine, which corresponded to 27 million euros in revenue, at an average price per litre of 3.32 euros.