Over the past few weeks I have been asked a lot about what to expect this year in terms of countries and regions who are poised to capitalize, if at all, in the current economic environment. A great but loaded question.

There are many factors which contribute to what is selling and what isn’t. A country may be ‘up’ volumetrically but ‘down’ in value. For example, if people are buying more French wine at lower prices (Alsace, Loire Valley, Languedoc) but are eschewing their normal desire to drink classified Bordeaux or Cru Burgundy, well, the cases could, in theory, climb while the actual dollars sag. This has been a case in point of the Australian market in the USA and England over the past couple of years that the Australians are keenly aware of, and in the process of aggressively addressing. A recent conversation had over dinner with some key head honchos for ‘Brand Australia’ (Wines of Australia) clearly pointed out this dynamic and addressed a few of the table’s questions on how they plan to respond. But it’s unfair to pick on the Aussies as they are certainly not alone in such a conundrum. So who is benefiting?

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