According to recent articles in Wine Spectator, Old World Wines are having a tough run of it during this economic downturn. For that matter, so are the Aussies, Chileans and pretty much everyone. Except the Argentines. The world wine market contracted about 1% in 2008 with Europe taking the brunt of that as the US market increased imports. Exports from Argentina were also up tremendously at 43% in value and 34% in volume.
This speaks volumes about the value of wines from Argentina. If I had to make a prediction, it would be that Argentina becomes the leader in export volume to the U.S. and perhaps even the world since their people, land, industry and terroir are ripe for growth. Malbec as a varietal has received tremendous press and will continue to receive tremedous press as long as vintners here continue the trend toward quality without increasing their prices (by too much). Soon to follow will be more press on Torrontés and Bonarda as people recongize their quality, uniqueness, and expressiveness.
The key, however, will be not to get greedy. Too often has a wine from Argentina received great press about its value only to double its price the following year. 5 to 10 percent increases are of course justified but as soon as a 10 dollar value Malbec goes to 15, a huge amount of consumers are lost. Especially in an economic climate in which the consumer is trading down in price, and the Europeans are slashing their prices by 15-35%! Argentine producers must remember that this is their advantage, lowest labor costs, lowest land costs in the world. On top of the most consistent vintages. If they stick to what they do well–value–they will reach the summit.
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