Shiraz outselling Chardonnay
August 13, 2008 by Colleen Coplick
Filed under Drinks
Wine.com, the #1 online wine retailer, says that Syrah (Shiraz) outsold Chardonnay for the first half of this year. They say that Syrah sales have grown 47% for the year to date, which is pretty impressive. The close red second is a Cab Sauv, which basically means that by outstripping Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah is pretty much the top-selling wine for the year so far. GO SHIRAZ!
It’s a little difficult to tell if those numbers are going to stand up nationally or not however. The press release goes onto say that:
“What you’d typically see in national wine consumption statistics that rely largely on supermarket scanner data, place Syrah/Shiraz at 3% and Chardonnay at 23%,” said Michael Osborn, Wine.com Founder and VP of Merchandising. “Wine.com consumers buy wines you’ll find at fine restaurants, and in that world Syrah purchasing ranks at 11% and is growing in popularity.”
Either way, go try a new Shiraz. It’s good!
What about Malbec? I just tried an amazing new wine from Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina — called Belasco de Baquedano Malbec. It’s 100-Year Old Vine, but just introduced in the U.S., its website says (www.belascomalbec.com). I had the Llama, and there are three others (Swinto, AR Guentota, Rosa rose) all from the same Malbec estate. Have you tried this? What do you think? I was amazed at how low the price is, about $15 for the Llama. Are all Argentine malbecs so excellent?