The UK wine market saw a 2% decline in volume sales in 2008 following consistent growth for some years and the value of the market has dropped 1% to £9.6bn, according to new research.
The study from Mintel found that the market has been impacted by concerns over binge drinking, a trend towards healthier lifestyles and heavy government taxation, as well as rising production and manufacturing costs.
The report forecasted that the wine market would not recover in volume terms until 2011, but would increase by 4% up to 2014 to reach 1.18 billion litres.
Wine drinking amongst the 25-34 age group was found to have declined more than any other over the past five years, with a fifth finding the choice in wine confusing.
Jonny Forsyth, senior drinks analyst at Mintel said: "In contrast to the majority of alcoholic drinks, people gravitate towards wine as they become older.
“This means that usage starts to take-off amongst the over 35s, with people continuing into their retirement.
“The majority of drinks, such as lager and vodka, see an opposite trend with people starting young but cutting back as they get older.
"Once people join the wine "club" they tend to stay in it for life. The problem for industry is getting people to join earlier. Despite being big drinkers generally, 25-34s are below average drinkers of wine. With wine seeing its first decline in volume and value for some time in 2008, it is increasingly important to target younger consumers effectively, and 25-34s are forecast to see double digit growth over the next five years.”
While the wine industry as a whole was suffering, the research revealed that rosé had bucked this trend and seen excellent growth in recent years, increasing its market value from just £110m in 2004 to £527m in 2008, accounting for 6% of the value of the wine market.
Mintel forecast that the rose wine sector would continue to grow over the next five years, reaching £742m by 2014.
