Swirls: Free case of wine? Which region would you choose?

I know I’m going a bit heavy on the surveys this week, but I was stuck by some of the results in a newly released study on attitudes toward imported wines. It was conducted by Wine  Opinions, an Internet-based research company that focuses on attitudes and preferences of frequent U.S. wine purchasers and consumers  and members of the wine trade. Among the findings:

• Argentina and Chile have seen major gains among consumers buying their red wines over the last couple of years, leading all other countries  in growth.
• Italy, New Zealand and Australia, saw significant increases in white wine and rosé purchases and, along with France and Germany, are the leading countries consumers turn to for these imports.
• Respondents from the wine trade say they’ve been selling a lot more wine under $20 from Argentina, Chile and Spain since the start of the recession in 2008, which is not surprising given the emphasis on value wines from those countries. Also not surprising: roughly a third or more say they are selling less wine in the over-$20 category from just about every country.

So, a lot of growth, it appears, in New World wines over the last couple of years. However, on the intriguing question -- from what country would consumers want to receive a free mixed-case of wine? – the Old World wins hands down. France was the first choice among 30 percent, Italy second at 26 percent, followed by Australia at 13 percent and Spain at 10 percent.

The results were based on responses from 642 consumers and 214 members of the wine trade. I’ll have more from this survey in coming days. For more information about the survey you can contact Wine Opinions at info@WineOpinions.com.

del.icio.us Tags: Wine imports,Wine Opinions,Wine Opinions survey,Under-$20 wines,Edward Deitch,Chile wine,Argentina wine,Spain wine,France wine,Italy wine,Australia wine,New Zealand wine,Wine survey,Imported wine,Germany wine