Côtes-du-Rhône bulk wines leap 20% in price
Bulk wine from the Côtes-du-Rhône has jumped by 20% in price following last year’s poor harvest, with red wine increasing from €138 in 2017 to €165 by the end of May this year, while the same is true of Côtes-du-Rhône Villages.
Last year’s crop was short by around 300,000hl, down from 1.47 million hl in 2016 to 1.17hl in 2017. This shortfall prompted wineries to tap into their inventories of older vintages from 2015 and 2016.
Ex cellar shipments, particulalry of bulk wines were buoyant, however, and up 6% from August to April 2018 compared to the same period last year. Forecasts to the end of July show that the final inventory levels could weigh in at around 780,000hl, equivalent to seven months’ sales which is relatively low.
To make up for the low yields, individual supplementary volumes were also used by wine producers who had it at their disposal. This has resulted in 41,000 hl of wine being reinjected back into the Côtes-du-Rhône and Côtes-du-Rhône Villages appellations this year.