Argentina beefs up its prospects.

(From Off Licence News)

Has Argentina reached what sociologists call "a tipping point" in the UK? Or, to put it more simply, is South America's largest wine-producing country finally set to make an impact on the British retail scene? I'm not sure they should be celebrating in the streets of Buenos Aires and Mendoza just yet - Argentina's market share is still only 1.4 per cent by value ( Nielsen figures to the end of 2007) - but there are signs that Argentina is moving closer to a breakthrough.

The figures are certainly encouraging. Not all of the wine has filtered through into the off-trade just yet, but in 2007 the total value of wine shipped from Argentina to these shores rose by 26.6 per cent in value and 15.8 per cent by volume. RosA exports nearly doubled (to 100,000 cases) and one wine, the 2007 Tesco Finest Argentinian Reserve Shiraz, achieved sales of close to 100,000 cases on its own. The fact that the wine was discounted from AGBP7.99 to AGBP3.99 in the autumn (and is again on promotion at the moment) probably had quite a bit to do with this, but let's not be too mean-spirited.

I spent a couple of weeks travelling around Argentina before Christmas, visiting or tasting wines from more than 70 wineries, and the sense of self-belief on the part of producers was extremely evident. To a certain degree, this confidence is born of Argentina's success in the States, where it sells substantial quantities of inexpensive wine as well as its top icon wines, most of which struggle to shift cases here. The fact that Chakra, the best Pinot Noir in South America, is not exported to the UK tells you all you need to know. Names such as Cobos and Val de Flores, both outstanding wines, are conspicuously absent, too.

Grounds for optimism ...