UK on-trade sees premium wine boost

Spending on cheaper wine in restaurants has dropped by almost 10% in the last year, but high-end sparkling wines are soaring at an even faster rate, new data shows.

A report published by Liberty Wines show sales of high-end Champagne and Prosecco are up 45% in the last year alone in the UK’s top restaurants.

Sales of premium still wine grew 2% in the last year, now accounting for 12.6% of on-trade wine sales.

Singling out Chardonnay as a variety performing particularly well, the research shows Chardonnay wines make up 20% of the white wine market in the on-trade, growing in volumes by 38.5% in the last year.

The rise of English sparkling wine and premium Prosecco is being thanked for the sales growth.

Meanwhile Pinot Noir grew by 75% in volume in gastropubs and is expected to continue its success into 2015.

However, the figures have been released amid a backdrop of a declining on-trade wine market value overall. The on-trade market value for wine dropped 9.3% in the last 12 months.

David Gleave MW, managing director of Liberty Wines, said: “It’s an exciting time for Britain’s premium on-trade wine market which has never been stronger. People are clearly drinking better quality wines than before. This is coupled with an increasing number of quality places to eat and drink.

“Although consumers tend to stick to styles and varieties they know and trust we are increasingly seeing them trade-up to wines further down the list. Our job is to continue to entice people to try new styles and varieties from across the globe. London’s premium on-trade wine market is growing by +18.4% by value year-on-year. We believe this is set to continue and that the rest of Britain can follow suit.”