Lisbon region wine sales up 4% in H1

Sales in the Lisbon Demarcated Wine Region in the first half of 2024 to 9 July grew 4% on the same period in 2023 thanks to white wines, rosés and ‘Leve Lisboa’.

The president of the Regional Wine Growers Commission (Comissão Vitivinícola Regional), Francisco Toscano Rico told Lusa that the wines under the brand ‘Leve Lisboa’ which have a lower alcohol content, grew 70% like-for-like, with 66 million bottles sold from January to 9 July.

The Lisbon Demarcated Wine Region has nine denomination of origin: Carcavelos, Bucelas, Colares, Arruda dos Vinhos, Torres Vedras, Alenquer, Lourinhã, Óbidos e Encostas D’Aire.

“We are talking about a region that in the last six years has seen sales more than double; a remarkable growth. There has been a lot of investment in the region. There was a view that Portugal was too small to have ambitions for the region, but the region began early on to export to foreign markets,” said Francisco Toscano Rico.

According to data from the Wine Commission, sales in the region have grown by 150% in the last six years, 80% of the wine exported to markets such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Poland and Scandinavian countries, worth €110 million.

In the last six years, one in three bottles exported by Portugal was from Lisbon, with the region accounting for 20% of national exports. Lisbon Wines are exporting in 2024 at the rate of more than 100 bottles per minute.

“The fact is that there was a very good acceptance of what the wine profile of the region was and this encouraged the region to invest in vineyards, wineries and increase marketing campaigns worldwide,” said Francisco Toscano Rico.

“During the covid 19 pandemic and lockdowns there was a significant increase in sales, causing optimism at a global level of what consumption might look like in the following years, but this was not the case because of the economic and global geopolitical instability and inflation, and there was a setback in global sales and Portugal did not escape the rule in 2023,” he explained. Now, however, sales of Lisbon region wines are on a clear path to recovery.

Exports of the region’s wine sales have grown both nationally and internationally, particularly in France, the UK, US, Canada, Brazil, and Spain.