After having remained a confidential product for so many years, the pink Crémants d’Alsace are becoming increasingly popular with consumers. Of the 30 million bottles of Crémant offered for sale in 2007, 10% were pink. The attraction for this wine should encourage the planting of more Pinot Noir. (Source: VSB)

With more and more tourists visiting Cambodia and as Cambodian society gradually opens up to wine and spirits drinking, the market is beginning to take off. The leading beneficiary is France, who exported €3.55 million worth of wines and spirits there in 2007. This growth trend was confirmed over the first five months of 2008, when €1.5 million worth of wine and spirits were sent there, bearing in mind that these figures do not include imports from Singapore, where Cambodian importers also source large volumes. (Source: VSB)

The French government is said to be about to propose an increase in tax on alcoholic beverages. Every bottle of alcoholic drink purchased in France today is subject to a specific rate of excise. The government’s plan is to increase the tax on marketing wines by 16% in 2009. Then excise would be index-linked to consumer prices.

In France, the last increase in these indirect taxes was in 1996, but it only hit spirits and beer. The last rise in tax affecting wines was back in 1983. (Source: Sud Ouest)

Having consumed 9.4 million cases of still light wines in 2006, Uruguay is the fourth largest market in Latin America, and its volumes are 13% lower than in 1998. Uruguay is traditionally a wine producer and is the leading supplier of its own domestic market with a 98% share. (Source: Revue Vinicole Internationale – The IWSR)

The Boisset group, a wine and spirits trader with €277 million turnover, is to sell its spirits division to La Martiniquaise for an undisclosed sum. Having been built up over time, this business is worth about €85 million. Through this acquisition, La Martiniquaise, one of the leading French spirits groups with nearly €700 million turnover, widens its product range. Boisset, on the other hand, should use the money from this sale to strengthen its portfolio of wines, especially sparkling wines. (Source: Les Echos)

Wine consumption per capita more than doubled from 2.5 litres in 1996 to over 5 in 2007. There is a good reason to believe that in the next 15 years, the gap between Russian and European levels of consumption may close entirely. Official figures report that consumption in Russia grew from 500m litres of still wine and 100m litres of sparkling in 2000 to 800m litres of still and 220m of sparkling in 2007. (Source: Wine Business International)

“We need to show young people that quality has more to offer in terms of enjoyment and excitement than quantity,” says Jean-Robert Pitte, President of the French Mission for Food Heritage and Cultures. (Source: La Revue du Vin de France)