Following the bumper grape crop that Spain enjoyed in 2013, the Iberian producer now tops the export league as the world’s biggest exporter of wine, after shipping out 22.8 million hectolitres in 2014, a 22.3 per cent rise on the previous year.
However, due to the fact that much of this wine (approximately 55 per cent) is exported as bulk wine at the cheaper ‘low profit’ end of the wine market, Spain’s wine industry profits fell by 2.2 per cent.
The largest importers of Spanish wine are France, followed by Germany, Portugal and Russia with the average price for bulk wine from Spain being at just €0.40 per litre, compared with €0.60 per litre for the previous year.
Annual results have not yet been reported in Italy, which was the top exporter last year.