by Daniel Lopez Roca

Exports of Argentinean wines are up more than 10% over 2007, sold to 90 countries – but with just 20 wineries accounting for more than 75% of sales.

Argentina’s national winemaking institute, the INV, told the market on Friday that exports of wine and must hit $51.6m in March, which is growth of more than 10% over March 2007. According to their report, the total exported volume reached 38055 litres, 14.1% more than the year before. During March, Argentinean wines were exported to 90 countries and 75.4% of the sales were concentrated in just 20 wineries. The total accumulated volume from January to March was 120m litres, which was a growth of 22.6% growth since March 2007.

In terms of value, the first quarter reported a total of $168.9m, 29.4% over the registered value in the same period of 2007. From the exported wines, 62.3% of the volume came from wines with no varietal mention, 37% were varietals, 0.3% sparkling wines and 0.3% other wines. The main markets for bottled wines were: the US, Canada, the UK, Brazil, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Finland, among others. Wines in bulk were exported to Russia, China, Japan, United States Finland, Switzerland, France, and Germany. The main exported varietals were Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Torrontés and Pinot Gris, among others.