We have seen some impressive growth in both traditional and more eclectic regions in the last year with strong performances from France, UK, Portugal and Uruguay in particular.

France has seen growth of +13% volume and +18% value and this has been driven by in no small part by continuing strong sales in rosé. Within this we have had a very good year again for Provence and similar style wines; lighter in colour, dry and refreshing wines which work throughout the year. Also of note has been the performance of sparkling wines such as Cremant de Loire and Blanquette de Limoux with which we have strengthened our range recently.

Portugal (+14% vol, +23% val) has also benefitted from some very successful new listings. AB Valley’s single variety Vinho Verdes have really flown and have rejuvenated this classic region with their modern approach style and very smart packaging.

English wine has seen value growth (+47%) vastly outperform volume (+17%). This has been driven by an increase of sparkling wine in the mix which is encouraging for the trade and in particular our friends at Bluebell Vineyards. Their Hindleap Classic Cuvee has led the way and is our biggest selling English sparkler. We took a visit to see them last summer, view our video here. 

Uruguay, and by that I mean our fantastic producer Pisano, has had a stellar year with sales up +47% vol and +53% val. Uruguayan wines have received some good headlines of late but we can be satisfied at Ellis that we were well ahead of the curve since we have been selling Pisano’s Tannat, Pinot Noir and other great wines for nearly 20 years. If you are not familiar with them, click here for more info.