Ice: wine imports in the U.S. are great (+6.5%). Italy gains ground

The US wine imports are showing contrasting signs, with values growing in the first ten months of 2018 (+6.5%), at 5.2 billion dollars, and quantities, on the other hand, marking the trend, with a contraction of -4.1% to 9.62 million hectoliters, for an average price that goes from 4.9 dollars to 5.4 dollars per liter, as revealed by the data of the U.S. Department of Commerce analyzed by the Ice of New York for WineNews.
The performance of sparkling and slightly sparkling wines was still excellent (+9.9% in value and +9.8% in quantity), while red wines confirmed their decline (+4.9% in value and -3.8% in quantity) and whites a drop (+2.3% in value and -2.6% in quantity). However, the greatest growth regards rose wines (+33.2% in value and +22.1% in quantity), all for the benefits of France.
Italy can smile. Sales of Italian wine grew overall by +9.3% in value, at 1.65 billion dollars, and by +2.2% in quantity, at 2.8 million hectoliters, with the market share rising to 31.8%, compared to 31.4% in the same period of 2017, and average prices reaching 5.9 dollars per liter, compared to 5.5 dollars per liter in the first ten months of 2017. White wines, with 573 million dollars, are the most important element, with a share that is close to 35% of the total, but in the period considered they grew in value (2%) and decreased slightly in quantity (-3.2%).
Red wines, with 554 million dollars, almost reached the same weight as whites in the exports basket to the USA, thanks to a substantial growth in value (+8.1%), accompanied by a quantity practically unchanged compared to the first ten months of 2017 (+0.7%).
The sparkling and slightly sparkling wine sector is always very dynamic, representing 22% of our exports to the USA, at 365 million dollars, the result of considerable growth both in value (+20.2%) and quantity (+13.8%). Thus, Italy remains the leading supplier to the USA for still wines, while France is the leading supplier in overall terms (thanks to the sparkling and rosé wines segment), with growth in both values (+16.8%) and quantities (+8.6%).