IMPORTED & INTERNATIONAL WINE: THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPORTS

The importance of imports

Australia is a key focus for many wine regions across the world, who seek to capitalise on local consumers’ love of travel and exploration, without needing to leave the country, writes Brydie Allen.

Despite our relatively small population in comparison to other wine importing nations, Australia is often identified as a great area of opportunity by wine regions of all sizes across the world.

For many regions, growth rates have increased even during the pandemic when the push to support local producers was at its strongest.

Deb Vallentine, National Business Manager at Calabria Family Wine Group and its import arm Vintners & Co. Merchants, explained the duality of these trends.

We’re a very, very small population, but I think the industry stats are quite positive… A lot of regions look at that and see Australia as another nice country to be in

-Tim Evans, National Business Manager - Imported Wines Negociants Australia

“The pandemic stopped one thing that Aussies love to do and that is travel… Imported wines allow for Australian consumers to still have an experience of another country through the wines we are importing,” said Vallentine.

If your social media feeds are full of people exploring summery northern hemisphere locations right now, you might think that this adventure is being fulfilled just fine without imported wine. However, that’s not the case. International producers are still focused on Australia to bring a taste of all corners of the world to local consumer fingertips.

Maud Kessler, Export Sales Director of Vignobles Austry, which includes brands such as France’s Peyrassol and Château Malescasse that are coming to Australia soon via Fisher Fine Wines, said international producers “truly believe in markets like Australia.”

“We’re just getting started… it’s a big opportunity for us because Australia is a great market,” Kessler said.

Growth in traditional areas

Not all regions across the international wine market yield equal results in Australia. Tim Evans, National Business Manager – Imported Wines for Negociants Australia, said the traditional wine areas are continuing to lead growth.

“I think the classic old world regions probably have more resonance with the consumer here – it’s still France and Italy that are our strong points,” Evans said.

Vallentine noted similar results, and said: “We are seeing growth across traditional imported wines such as Champagne, which is having great success in Australia at the moment.”

Statista data reflects this too, with France and Italy recorded as two of the highest value countries for imported wine in Australia, after New Zealand. These top three nations are miles ahead of any others.

There are several reasons for the success of classic wine regions in Australia right now. Consumers may be looking for regions or producers they trust, that have ample history and prestige behind them. Or, some of the top wines from these nations could just be perfectly suited to local customer needs, as Joe Molinari, CEO of Combined Wines, explains.

Speaking of what he calls the most popular Italian wines right now, including Pinot Grigio, rosé, Prosecco, Sangiovese, Nero D’Avola and Chianti, Molinari said: “All of these wines are lifestyle wines and go with food. They are perfect as leisurely drinking wines that allow the consumer to drink in an easy fashion without there being too much tannin, oak or residual sugar.

“They also represent traditional Italian varietals produced in an Italian environment under Italian conditions which consumers are looking for as opposed to similar wines produced outside of Italy.”

Communicating these processes is important to international producers, as they enter Australia looking to tell their unique stories.

Another company that is keen to tell their unique story of Italian heritage is Mezzacorona Group, which features a number of brands that have passed passion and dedication to winemaking throughout the generations. For the Mezzacorona brand itself, with vineyards nestled into the foot of the incredible looming Dolomite Mountains just a short distance from Lake Garda, telling the story of a great commitment to tradition and quality has seen great results in Australia.

“Australia is our fifth largest export market. It was number 10 about eight years ago, but in the last few years, sales have improved thanks to the Single Vineyard Sellers team,” said Matteo Apollonio, who manages exports from Mezzacorona Group to Australia, Northern Europe, Canada and Asia.

Justine Teal, Marketing Manager at Single Vineyard Sellers, added some more context about this journey, and said: “We are delighted to partner with Mezzacorona who showcase the grower producer business model at its finest by always putting quality first.

“Mezzacorona is certified EU sustainable and vegan friendly which is becoming ever more important to consumers. These points are fantastic to draw the consumer in, but what brings our consumers back time and time again is Mezzacorona’s commitment to quality and consistency in each bottle… We delight in providing a product to our customers that is dependable, delivering in taste, quality and consistency but more importantly keeps consumers devoted to our customers’ stores and venues.”

Alternate regions and varieties surging

According to Evans: “Australian consumers are always quite open consumers and very well-educated consumers.”

While there is some great knowledge within the classic regions and styles that is driving local demand for international wines, there is also athirst to try different things.

Matt Dunne, Group Wine Ambassador at Joval Wines, said:

“Imports will continue to evolve and grow. Consumers are always on the hunt to try new things, explore new regions.”

Some of the varietals that Dunne has seen promise in recently within the imported wine segment include those that aren’t that well known in the Australian general public, meaning they are ripe for explorers to discover. Varietals such as CabernetFranc, Chenin Blanc, Aligoté and Nerello Mascalese were all tipped as areas of interest, largely because consumers would be hard-pressed to find such wines readily available from local producers.

It’s not just unusual varietals that are influencing popularity. Andrew Theodosi, Brand Manager at Constellation Brands, said drinkers are increasingly attracted to finding out what different regions have to offer instyles they wouldn’t expect.

“Exploration is key. Wine drinkers are often aware of the type of varietal they like, but love to explore and trial different expressions of their favourite varietals. By offering wines from different countries, drinkers can discover the nuanced impact that different climates, growing techniques and terroir has on the final product,” Theodosi said.

Adam Partington, Managing Director of Saint Wine, gave a great example of this, saying: “The real increase we’ve seen is in demand for high-quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from elsewhere in the world, like USA and NZ.”

Constellation Brands has seen such results with its Robert Mondavi Private Selection range out of California, reflecting a wider interest in wine from America.

“American wine is growing rapidly in Australia, IWSR data shows 41 per cent volume CAGR and 37 per cent value since 2017 and predicts the category to grow almost 50 per cent by 2026,” Theodosi said.

Even within classic international wine regions, there is that desire to explore something unusual and interesting. For example, Mezzacorona produces what it calls an Italian Glacial Sparkling, which communicates the unique location of its vineyards in the Trentino region near the mountains, rather than the more well-known Prosecco vineyards in Veneto. On the other end of the scale though, the group also produces Feudo Arancio wines from the southern-most wine region of Italy, Sicily, which is quite a warm region known for producing interesting grape varieties such as Nero D’Avola, Grillo and Cataratto.

The tentatively bright future

While there’s some great interest coming from different areas of the imported wine segment, the market’s exact future trajectory remains unclear in what Partington describes as “interesting times ahead, with many competing forces.”

“The next 12 - 24 months will see the landscape change significantly with shipping and fuel costs exploding, a completely compromised supply chain and inflation through the roof and not about to be curbed by any RBA strategy. Imports have previously been a source of amazing quality at the value end of the spectrum... This value could well be a thing of the past when the dust settles in the current climate,” he said.

However there is a lot of hope that these challenges can be successfully navigated. Vallentine, for example, noted: “I think we will see continued growth. Global shipping is causing some issues with supply however demand is still high across all price points with imported wines.”

Evans added that Negociants Australia receives an average of one to two new requests for distribution from an international winemaker every day, showing that producers across the world still see the strong opportunity.

“We’re a very, very small population, but I think the industry stats are quite positive… A lot of regions look at that and see Australia as another nice country to be in, and one that is easy to deal with as it’s quite open,” Evans said.

For some international winemakers, overcoming challenges is possible thanks to a connection to parent groups, like Vignobles Austruy. Vice President, Alban Cacaret, said the group’s focus is to allow the individual wineries to keep their strong identities while making distribution easier.

“We organise the shipping of all our estates, to make it easier for everyone. For the export market, we can consolidate containers from the one storage facility that houses all the wines,” Cacaret said.

Exploration and education

To put it simply, the key to unlocking the potential of imported wine in liquor retail is education that enables exploration.

Barney Fallows, Wine Wholesaler at Déjà Vu Wine Co., said with travel routes reopened and a burgeoning list of imported wines on on-premise lists, retailers can provide the next nugget ofa consumer’s wine knowledge, which can lead to more purchases, if they are prepared.

“It’s in retailers’ best interests to make sure they stay up to date and educated about emerging regions. Retailers should be willing to explore and provide their customers with wines that fulfill their interests and desires around travel and experimentation,” Fallows said.

To help with this, Theodosi suggests stocking imported wines alongside Australian counterparts, as “this helps provide variety to your shoppers who are feeling a little more adventurous and can actually encourage exploration.”

After all, in an ever-growing congested market, it’s an important role of the retailer to educate and enable shoppers to make satisfying choices.

Dunne said: “Prices are going up but there are still great value imported wines from regions that are on the rise. For example, Muscadet (from the Loire Valley)ticks a lot of boxes for those who enjoyChablis, as does Aligoté (from Burgundy).

“Retailers are so important in this communication and being approachable is key to helping customers take a fun, new path in their in wine journey.”