Walloons remain faithful to French wine, Flemings go for alternatives

Statistics from market researcher GfK show that people in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium drink less French wine. Bordeaux and Champagne are the big losers. In the French speaking part of Belgium French wine remains quite popular. The market share of Italy is also declining, especially in Flanders.
In 2008-20098 Belgians drank 4.8% less Bordeaux, 2.6% less Italian wine, 2.1% less French table wine and 3.2% less French country wine. Champagne declined by as much as 10%. The winners of the Belgian wine market are Chile (+2.2%), Spain (+3.7%) and South Africa (+3.6%) for still wines and Cava (+35%) and Alsace (+3%) for sparkling wines.
Looking at the figures for still wines there are big differences between Flanders and Wallonia. Chile is now more popular than Bordeaux in Flanders. In Wallonia and Brussels Bordeaux is still in the lead.
France’s share in the overall Belgian wine market fell to 58% and even to 50% in Flanders. In 2004 France had a market share of 71%.
Some French wine regions do better in Belgium. Rhône (+3,7%) and Sud-Ouest (+3,6%) show promising growth rates.
Overall Belgians drink 32 liters wine per person per year. This is even more than the Spaniards. Flemings spend more per bottle than people from Wallonia and Brussels. Flemings also drink more white wine than the Walloons and people from Brussels. The consumption of rosé in Belgium is virtually confined to the French-speaking part. Most of the rose that is consumed in Belgium is from Spain and not from France.