Winemakers' Federation Disputes Demise of Cask Wine

By Annette Shailer

The Winemakers’ Federation of Australia (WFA) has reassured the industry that cask wine is still performing well despite a report released on Monday (November 10) stating the segment was under siege.

The Citi Investment Research report shows a fall in the cask wine market share from 60 per cent to 40 per cent over the past decade.

Winemakers’ Federation of Australia CEO, Stephen Strachan, said despite the gradual decline, cask wine still holds an impressive percentage of the market.

“I haven’t really seen a decline, 45 per cent of table wine sales are cask wine,” Strachan said. “To argue that cask wines are out of the market is blatantly wrong.”

Strachan admitted demographic factors had led to a decline in cask wine sales, but that the convenience, environmental and recycling benefits of casks may yet lead to their resurgence.

“The drop is mainly driven by the younger demographic preferring bottles over casks. However other demographics are still consuming cask wines and will continue to consume them in the future,” he said.

“It comes down to consumers and their preferred vessel and cask wines will always be a convenient option. Screw caps are great but they still have a relatively short lifespan whereas casks will always last longer.”

To comment on this story, click here.

 

[Wed 12/11/2008 04:04:58]