Irish turn to New World of wine in droves

With more than 37 million bottles of wine consumed in the Republic last year, the beverage is fast becoming the symbol of the current economic boom.

Some players in the wine industry speculate that sales this year could increase by up to 20 per cent. The Wine Development Board says that on a per capita basis, 10 bottles of wine are consumed annually for every person living in the State.

The growth in the market is clear if one considers that even as recently as 1990 less than 30 per cent of adults were classified as regular wine drinkers. However, this figure from the Wine Development Board is now close to 50 per cent, with increasing wine consumption particularly among women, young people and middle-income groups.

While a 47 per cent increase in wine consumption between 1990 and 1996 is phenomenal, it is moving from a very low base. The Republic still has one of the lowest rates of wine drinking in the EU, with the French consuming six times as much and the British twice as much. But Ireland is catching up fast and wine importers say it is difficult to keep up with the rapidly changing tastes of the Irish palate. "The main thing I have noticed is the Irish wine drinker is much more knowledgeable about wine than he or she was 10 years ago," says Mr John Wilson of Searsons, the wine specialists in Monkstown, south Co Dublin.

The amount of foreign travel undertaken by people is one reason for the boom in wine sales, all retailers and importers who spoke to The Irish Times agreed. However, another key factor is the general economic growth of recent years which means wine is not necessarily seen as a luxury item.

"Unlike previous periods of growth in the wine market, this time it's so strong that we don't expect it to drop off even when the economy slows down," says Mr Philip Robinson, the commercial director of Grants, the wine merchants and suppliers. In addition to having more money in their pockets, changing social patterns have made wine more attractive to consumers. It is no longer shoved in a press for years and only taken out for a family occasion. "People have wine over lunch, at dinner, with their friends and even when they're watching the television," says Mr Robinson. The increase in eating-out would seem to be to the advantage of wine too, says Mr David Dillon of the Wine Development Board. While lifestyle changes have made wine more popular, the people drinking it are different too. According to the Wine Development Board, between 1992 and 1996 there was a 49 per cent increase in females drinking wine, a 45 per cent increase in 18-24 year olds and a 59 per cent rise in wine drinking among the farming community. "Wine is no longer the preserve of a small elite of wealthy people," says Mr Keith MacCarthy Morrogh from Findlaters, one of Dublin's oldest wine merchants. He even holds out the possibility of wine breaking through the final frontier becoming an established choice in Irish pubs. Although some style magazines hail wine as "the new rock 'n' roll", the increasing popularity of the drink has not been kind to everyone. For example, the French wine industry has been in a tailspin over the last few years, as New World wines from Australia, Chile, South Africa and New Zealand eat into its share of the world market.

The Republic has followed this pattern, enthusiastically snapping up huge volumes of New World wines. The use of revolutionary fermenting techniques in their production and consumer-friendly labelling based on grape type not region, has helped to demystify the world of wine for many consumers, says Mr Morrogh.

This has propelled New World wines like those from Australia into holding almost 20 per cent of the Irish market, according to Mr Jim Farrelly, the wine marketing manager of Gilbeys, the State's largest wine wholesaler and importer. "Seven or eight years ago Australian wines were at less than 7 per cent and French wines were at over 50 per cent, but the French wines are now down at the low 30s and Australian wines are booming," he says.

The mixing of grapes seems to produce a taste friendly to the Irish palate, but the question of labels is seen as vital by others. Unlike most of the wines produced in the larger chateaux in northern France, which have dominated the world market for years, new world wines are labelled according to the grape used in the wine making.

This means consumers can easily identify a Chardonnay, Cabernet, Sauvignon Blanc or Merlot without having to be experts in the geography of France.

Another trend within the market here is a drift away from white wine towards red. People are beginning their wine drinking on white and are prepared to be novice red drinkers, says Mr Morrogh.

He adds that more women are switching to red wine and this is increasing its share of the market to about 45 per cent. Another factor is the publicity surrounding claims that red wine is healthier because it helps eliminate cholesterol from the bloodstream.

The level of tax on wine in Ireland is the one negative holding the market back, according to the Wine Development Board. For example, the total tax on a 75cl bottle of table wine, between excise duty and VAT, is £2.48 one of the highest levels in Europe. Despite this, vigorous wine sales look set to continue and this means competition between outlets, which have all increased their range of wines in recent years.

The multiples are specially interested in expanding their wine business. According to Tesco, its trade is growing at more than 12 per cent a year with expensive wines like Mouton-Rothschild at £149.99 proving popular.

Buying wine for investment purposes is becoming more popular in the Republic, according to wine merchants and James Adam, the State's largest wine auctioneer.

James Adam, which holds a wine auction twice yearly in Dublin, has even set world records for some vintages. Mr Stuart Cole, who organises the auction, says a case of 1982 Mouton-Rothschild sold for £3,800 at the Dublin auction late last year, although this record has since been beaten in London. If the same case was auctioned now it would probably fetch about £4,500, he adds.

Mr Cole says many buyers purchase two cases of expensive wine one for drinking and the other for investment purposes. "The profit they make on one case pays for the drinking of the other," he says.

He adds that people's tastes are eclectic, with a significant number looking to collect wine vintages from their birth year. "That's OK if the year you were born was good, but if it wasn't you end up drinking a lot of bad wine," he says.

An increasingly popular investment method is buying wine before it is even bottled. This is done by approaching a winemaker directly or dealing with them through a wine broker, for example, Findlaters. The wine is bought in the hope it will be a good year and the price will rise as it goes from the vineyard to the case.

Other enterprising wine buffs import the drink "in bond", which means excise duty is not paid until later. The wine is stored in a vault and is bottled when it is needed and duty paid at this stage.