Exports by the wineries in the Rioja Denomination of Origin dropped by 2.34 per cent in the first eight months of the year, in turn pushing down value sales by 1.92 per cent.
A report from Europa Press shows that export volumes were 40.7 million in the January to August period, while value sales reached €171.3 million during the same period.
While non-vintage wines remained the most popular among foreign drinkers, volume sales nonetheless showed a marked downturn, dropping 7.73 per cent to 20.2 million litres during the eight months.
In contrast, sales of aged crianza wines increased by 1 per cent to 11.9 million litres. Exports of reservas (quality wines aged for at least three years) were up 9.4 per cent to 7.18 million litres, while grandes reservas, premium wines aged for at least five years, saw a slight decline in sales to 1.47 million litres (-1.53 per cent).
Non-vintage wines accounted for 49.5 per cent of all Rioja wines exported - a 2.89 per cent drop compared to the same period a year earlier - while crianzas took 29.22 per cent (down 0.97 per cent). Some 17.6 per cent of exports comes from reservas, with the remainder from the top quality grandes reservas.
The eight month period also showed a number of significant changes in the leading importers of Rioja wines, with some countries seeing spectacular falls in sales while others registered massive increases.
The UK remained the largest single market, although sales dropped 3.24 per cent to 10.7 million de litres. Germany was in second place with 8.1 million litres, down 2.82 per cent, while the next two markets, Switzerland and the US, both showed increases
Swiss drinkers consumed 4 million litres of Rioja wines, 9.06 per cent more than in the same period last year, while the US showed a strong rise in imports - 20.36 per cent to 3.5 million litres - as consumers switched loyalties as a result of Spain's support for US action in Iraq (and France's opposition).
Dutch imports also rose, increasing 4.17 per cent, as did those for Mexico (29.47 per cent), France (6.27 per cent) and Finland (3.48 per cent). Other declines were seen in Sweden (13.6 per cent), Denmark (32.4 per cent), Norway (10.51 per cent), Austria (12.27 per cent), Belgium (6.53 per cent), Ireland (25.2 per cent) and Japan (3.78 per cent).