Italy Back at the Top as US Wine Importer
Loris Scagliarini - May 10, 2006
 By now, the face off between Italy and Australia for the position of top wine importer to the US is starting to resemble a Nascar or F1 car race than a marketing report.
Not later than April 25th, based on data issued by the Italian Food & Wine Institute, we reported that Australia had taken the lead over Italy, and today, based on on data issued by the same Italian Food & Wine Institute for the first two months of 2006, we are happy to report that Italian wines have surpassed Australian wines once again, thus recovering the leadership on the US market.
We must point out though, that notwithstanding the recaptured top position, Italian wine imports to the US dropped 1 percent in value and 3.8 percent in quantity compared to the first two months of 2005. This data must be received with some concern by the Italian wine sector, as Australia imports have increased 5.2 percent in value and 14.1 percent in quantity, thus keeping the lead in the number of imported bottles.
French wine imports to the US are on the rise as well. They come third on the list, but it must be noted that imports raised a record 43.9 percent in quantity and 25.5 percent in value in the first two months of 2006. This turn of events comes after a long period of crisis for French wine exports.
| Data Source: Italian Food & Wine Institute |
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