An overview of German wine market, from Wines of Germany annual report
- Germany’s 2019 vintage displayed “exceptional” quality across all regions, but extremely dry conditions did create some problems
- As a result of the record high temperatures, the 8.3m hectoliters of wine must harvested was 5% lower than the ten-year average of 88m hectoliters
- The vast bulk – 63% of the harvest came from white grapes, while the remaining 37% went towards red wine production
- The five most important grape varieties in Germany (Riesling, Pinot Noir, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Gris and Dornfelder), comprising five million hectolitres, accounted for 60% of the total harvest
- Wine consumption in Germany dropped by 0.4 litres to 20.1 litres per capita, within the 20-year range of between 20 to 21 litres.
- Sparkling wine consumption remained unchanged at 3.3 liters, resulting in a per capita consumption of 23.4 litres of wine and sparkling wine combined
- Sales of domestic wine have remained stable despite wine purchases falling by 0.9% overall
- German wines maintained their market share of 45%, followed by Italy with 16%, France with 12% and Spain with 9%
- The grocery retail sector accounts for 79% of all wine sold in Germany, while discount stores retained their 50% share and supermarkets 18%
- Hypermarkets gained share, accounting for 11% of the market, while 4% of wines were sold online
- Within the food retail sector, Germany consumers spent an average of 3.12 Euros per litre, three cents higher than the previous year
- Wines from German regions averaged 3.31 Euros per litre, a decrease of eight cents, and attribute to the larger wine offering from the abundant 2018 vintage
- In contrast the price paid for domestic wines bought directly from the producer and in specialist wine shops rose by nine cents to 6.89 Euros per litre
- Domestic wines were most in demand amongst the under 30-year age bracket
- German wine exports increased by 3% to 1.04m hectoliters in 2019 compared to the previous year
- The value of exports fell slightly by 0.6% over the same period down by 1 cent to 2.93 Euros per litre - this is largely down to the high yields of 2018
- The US is Germany’s most important overseas market, but was down by 4% in volume and 9% in value to 65m Euros
- The abolition of wine import duties in Japan resulted in German exports jumping by 17% in volume and 13% in value
- Scandinavia is another important market for German wine, where exports were up to 182,000 hectoliters worth 56m Euros
- China is the fifth most important of Germany’s overseas markets, and saw the average price up by 35 cents to 5.17 Euros per litre, with the total value up by 2% to 17m Euros, despite volumes falling by 5% to 33,000 hectolitres
- Source: Wines of Germany