French still wine export volumes fell by 9.8%.

rench wine and spirits exports fell by 2.7% by volume in 2018, dropping from 199 to 193 million cases. Still appellation wines were particularly affected, falling by 9.8%, largely due to the poor harvest in 2017, said the country’s Federation of Wine and Spirit Exporters (FEVS) on Wednesday.

At the same time, the value of French exports continued to rise (+2.4%) compared to 2017, thanks mostly to Cognac. “This is the fourth consecutive year of value growth. For the first time, our exports exceeded 13 billion euros”, said Antoine Leccia, chairman of FEVS and of the executive board of Advini.

The balance of trade continues to grow (up 1.7% to €11.7 billion), confirming the industry’s ranking as the second largest trade surplus in France, behind the aviation industry and ahead of perfumes and cosmetics.

Third countries drive growth

Among the highlights of the year, exporters pointed to the excellent performance by non-EU countries. French exports of wines and spirits rose by 2.6% in value to €8.7 billion, representing two thirds of the total value of exports. Demand is particularly strong in the United States (+4.6%), which remains the leading customer for French products. “All products are growing”, said Antoine Leccia.