Rosé glasses rise as pink wines thrive in Australia

Following last week’s ‘Stop & Smell the Rosé’ seminar in the Riverland, this Market Bulletin looks at rosé consumption in Australia and around the world, and how Australian exports of rosé are performing.

According to Rosé Wines World Tracking, 2.3 billion litres of rosé were produced globally in 2022, up 17 per cent in 10 years.  The largest producers are France, Spain, the United States (US), and Italy. 

The centre of both rosé production and consumption globally is France, where one in three bottles of wine consumed are pink and the style is more popular than white wine. Provence is the powerhouse of rosé production, with 91 per cent of vines in the region used to produce rosé^[1]. 

Rosé consumption has peaked in France and the US

However, rosé is not immune to the global decline in wine consumption. Over the past 5 years, consumption of still rosé has decreased in volume by 1.9 per cent per year, according to IWSR. This is a slower decline than still red (4.9 per cent decline per year) and still white (2.4 per cent), but it’s performance is not as good as sparkling which recorded 2.1 per cent growth per year. 

The main driver of the decline in rosé consumption is France, where consumption peaked in 2017. Rosé is also under threat in the US, where consumption peaked later – in 2020. These two markets now represent a shrinking share of rosé consumption as other markets grow – including Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom (UK), Brazil, and Sweden. 

Figure 1: Top ten markets of still rosé consumption

^{Source: IWSR}

Australia’s thirst for rosé rising

However, the real star performer when it comes to rosé consumption is Australia. Over the past 5 years rosé consumption in Australia has grown by an average of 13 per cent per year, outperforming all other major markets. 

Australians are drinking rosé at a faster rate than even sparkling wine (which has grown by 2 per cent per year). This brings Australia to having a 2 per cent share of worldwide rosé consumption, up from just over zero a decade ago. It has climbed from the 27^th largest rosé market in 2014 to 10^th largest in 2024 and is expected to grow at a rate of 1 per cent per year in the next five years. 

Driving this trend in Australia are younger drinkers – Gen Z and Millennials; more regular wine drinkers from these generations are reporting drinking rosé than sparkling wine^[2]. Endeavour’s State of the Grapes report also supports this view; rosé is one of the top wine styles preferred amongst Gen Z and Millennials (see Figure 2). There is also evidence in the report that more affluent consumers are preferring rosé over Sauvignon Blanc – indicating it is seen as a more premium and aspirational product. 

Figure 2: Wine sub-category preferences by generation

In the Australian off-premise, rosé sales have grown by 5 per cent per year since 2023^[3]. Australian rosé has a 61 per cent volume share of the market, while imports make up 39 per cent. Comparing this to total wine sales in the off-premise, where domestically produced wines hold more than 80 per cent market share, Australian wines are under-indexing when it comes to rosé. France has a 21 per cent market share, while New Zealand has 14 per cent. Wines priced between $10 and $20 per bottle are driving the growth in the Australian off-premise – growing to a 62 per cent share of rosé sales in the year ended June 2025. 

Australian rosé exports increasing

Australia also exports rosé to 82 different overseas markets and the value of still rosé exports increased by 4 per cent to $30 million in the year ended June 2025. Canada is a key driver of this recent growth, with shipment value up 25 per cent. Rosé exports to Canada have been on an upward trend since 2022 and has just recently overtaken the United Kingdom as the number one market by value for Australian rosé exports. 

Figure 3: Australian still rosé exports over time

After Canada and the United Kingdom, rounding out the top 5 markets by value are New Zealand, the United States, and mainland China. The amount of rosé wine being shipped to China has changed significantly in the time before and after tariffs on Australian bottled wine were implemented. Before the tariffs on Australian bottled wine, 7 per cent of exported rosé volume was shipped to China, now that share is less than 1 per cent. Rosé exports to other Asian markets such as Taiwan, Thailand, India, Vietnam and Malaysia are growing – off small bases. 

The levels of residual sugar found in still rosé exports are also changing – moving away from sweeter styles towards dry (see Figure 4). 

Figure 4: Volume of still rosé exports by residual sugar level

While rosé may have had its heyday in markets such as France, opportunity still remains in many markets around the world, including Australia. 

Click here to view a snapshot of key rosé insights. 

• ^{1. Vins de Provence}
• ^{2. IWSR}
• ^{3. Circana}