French wine exporters toast record 2007

France’s wine and spirit industry scored record exports in 2007, with triple-digit surges in China and an exuberant performance from the star of French wines, Champagne.

France sent nearly 9.4 billion euros, or about $13.8 billion, worth of wines and spirits abroad in 2007, an increase of nearly 7 percent year-on-year, the French Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters announced Wednesday.

But 2008 may not be so rosy. The strength of the euro compared to the U.S. dollar makes French wines and spirits more expensive in the United States, still France’s largest market by value despite an estimated 3 percent year-on-year decline in exports across the Atlantic in 2007. The toughening U.S. economic climate could further dent sales in 2008, the exporters’ federation said.

Champagne exports to the United States already fell by nearly 7 percent in value and nearly 6 percent in volume in 2007.

Source: Sun Sentinel

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