New World wines, a threat to French wines?

They come from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile and Argentina. In just a few years, these countries have considerably increased their wine sales on the world market and are now competing with the historical European producers. They have been able to improve the image of their products with consumers around the world. The appeal of New World wines is of course due to the exotic character of these wines. But does this "taste of elsewhere" alone justify this craze?

New World Wines: A Spectacular Rise

The New World countries have a more recent culture of vines and wine than the historic European producers - the French, Italians and Spanish. The vine was implanted and developed there by the settlers. For a long time anecdotal, the sales of New World wines have broken through in recent years and their market share continues to grow. They have increased from 1.7% to 21.4% in 20 years. Over the last 10 years, Australia's wine-growing area has doubled. The phenomenon is similar in Argentina and Chile, which are accelerating the pace of planting.

The Marketing Strategy for New World Wines: Producing Attractive and Accessible Wines

World-class wine companies have invested considerable sums of money in the marketing of New World wines and have set up a demand marketing strategy.

The wines are accessible and the offer is simplified. They are varietal wines, easily recognizable. Production has been concentrated on world-famous grape varieties: cabernet-sauvignon, merlot, syrah, pinot noir, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. The label is simple and understandable. It highlights the country, the brand and the grape variety. The uninformed consumer knows what he is going to drink. The offer is not segmented to a small proportion of experts.

New World wines: expressive, fruity and fresh

Consumer tastes have evolved over the last 20 years. The wines appreciated are softer with lighter tannins, they have less acidity and a more immediate expression of fruity aromas. The styles of wines consumed are fresher than 15 years ago, and the white wines sought after are concentrated, expressive, fresh and persistent on the palate.

New world wines are geared towards consumer demands. They are technological, industrial and representative of current consumer trends. They are often demonstrative and very flattering. Moreover, they offer a constant quality without technical defects and symbolize a new conception of wine with fewer constraints and more innovations. They benefit from an image of dynamism and modernity.

This craze is confirmed during contests where they are more and more rewarded and distinguished. Last year, the Anglo-American wine magazine Decanter ranked no less than 17 New World wines among the 35 prestigious World Wine Awards. In the same year, a South African wine was awarded at the World Wine Awards in Brussels as "the best white wine in the world".

Manon (Les Grappes)