Rosé in the pink as women drive a rise in sales of 30%

Published on Sunday 6 April 2008 21:19

SALES of rosé wine have rocketed, making it the driving force in the UK wine market in shops and off-licences.

Sales of ros wine are growing at nearly 30 per cent a year, compared with just 6 per cent for the light wine market overall, according to new figures from analysts Nielsen.

Women are predominantly driving sales of ros, to drink at home or at social gatherings.

Pink wines beat the poor summer weather to reach a record 453 million sales in the UK during the 12 months to February 2008, with peaks in September, at Christmas and around Valentine's Day.

They now make up a new high of 10 per cent of the UK still wine market by volume, up from 8 per cent in 2006 and more than double the 4.9 per cent share they had in 2005.

US vineyards, which pioneered the ros phenomenon, make up half of all volume sales, a slight drop from 52.2 per cent in the year to February 2007.

However, this year the New World outside California has jumped on the ros wine bandwagon. Chile notably increased its share of the market to 5 per cent from 3.1 per cent the year before, and Concha y Toro's Isla Negra stormed into eighth place in the top ten ros brands.

France and Portugal lost market share, but Australia, South Africa, Argentina and New Zealand edged up.

While the top three ros brands remained the same – California's Gallo Family Vineyards, Blossom Hill and Echo Falls – Stowells and First Cape joined Isla Negra among new entries. Ros from brands such as Kumala, Rivercrest and Paul Masson fell out of the top ten.

A third of all ros wines are blends, with Zinfandel and Grenache the most popular grapes for pinks, and Shiraz, Merlot and Pinot Grigio gaining ground in a growing number of varietal wines.

The average price of a bottle of ros in a supermarket or off-licence is 3.93, the same as white wine but cheaper than red.

Christine Boggis, of industry magazine Off Licence News, said: "Ros is going from strength to strength, shooting up nearly 30 per cent for the second year.

"It is the driving force behind the 6 per cent growth in overall light wine sales over the past year, and we expect it to keep on growing – despite other pressures on consumers' pockets."