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GERMANY
IMPORTERS
THE MOSELLE VALLEY NEAR THE EINIG-ZENZEN WINERY
Before getting into big numbers and German preferences, one thing should be said
and it’s a point on which all the experts concurred: the wine market in Germany
is highly segmented. In other words, there is almost nothing that does not exist. In a
country with a population of 82 million, the economic power to match and a tradition
of wine production and imports dating back to Roman times, this is hardly surprising.
Merchants from the major ports of Hamburg and Bremen have been importing
wine from the Bordelais for centuries - in bottles and even more so in bulk. Today,
Berlin is viewed as an experimental space where even rare natural wines from the far
corners of the earth can be bought. However, the fact that such segments exist does
not contradict the overarching statements. So, back to the basic metrics.
COUNTRY DISTRIBUTION
In its analyses, the Federal Statistical Office regularly publishes data about countries
from which most wine is exported to Germany. In 2022, Germans imported
13.395 million hectolitres of wine (the latest official figures), which equates to just
under 16 litres per capita. The most popular country of origin was clearly Italy with
36.3% of import volumes, followed by Spain with 27.5% and France with 13.3%. South
Africa, the first country outside Europe (4.8%), follows in fourth place, ahead of the
SPRING 2024 • GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE
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