FRENCH WINE EXPORTS DOWN IN 2023

France’s wine woes continued in 2023 as exports of wine and spirits fell last year from a post-COVID peak as inflation clipped consumer demand and distributors in the lucrative U.S. market cleared existing stocks, industry group FEVS said. Wine and spirits are one of France’s biggest export earners. The sector has become increasingly reliant on foreign sales as declining domestic consumption has hit some production areas such as Bordeaux, contributing to recent protests by farmers. Total French exports of wine and spirits reached $17.5 billion last year, down almost 6% from a record level in 2022, the Federation of French Wine and Spirits Exporters (FEVS) said in an annual update. The 2023 sales nonetheless represented the second-highest on record in what FEVS called a “soft landing” after a surge in demand following the COVID-19 pandemic. French exports fell more sharply in volume terms last year, with a decline of more than 10%, FEVS said. In the United States, by far the largest export market for French wine and spirits, de-stocking by distributors contributed to a 22% drop in imports from France to $4 billion. For 2024, wine and spirits face economic and political uncertainty like other sectors, but the ending of the de-stocking phase in the U.S. market is considered a cause for optimism.