MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile becoming UK's fastest growing wine supplier

Chile became in 2007 Britain's sixth supplier of wines and ahead of Spain for the first time according to the market analysis agency AC Nielsen.

Chilean wine sales to the UK soared 25% last year, the highest increase by any single country, reports The Independent from London which also anticipated that Chile could be displacing South Africa of fifth place in 2008. The UK is a wine market of 20 billion US dollars and the main suppliers are France, Italy, United States and Australia. UK wine experts have only praise for the Chilean "sauvignon blanc", "syrah" and "pinot noirs", and underline how much the grape and wine industry of the country has advanced in the last two decades. According to AC Nielsen 85% of the 90 million bottles sold in the UK cost the equivalent of 10 US dollars or less, but the demand for quality wines is growing. Virgin Wines an internet UK supplier currently sells more wines from Chile than from any other country. Chilean wine last December represented 21% of all wine sales in UK compared to 6% in 2006. "The copper tycoons are investing millions, contracting the best experts, monitoring grape fields with satellites and importing the best vine stocks from Europe" points out Rowan Gormley, Virgin CEO, quoted by The Independent. "They're not interested in selling wine but rather sharing it with friends, so that a bottle from the Nappa valley in California that would cost £100, from Chile and similar or better quality sells in the UK for 7 to 8 pounds", said Gormley.