Spain loses ground in Brazil after sparkling wine exports fall 35.5%

Brazil increased its wine imports in the first half of 2026, but Spain moved against the trend and lost ground in the market as a sharp drop in sparkling wine shipments offset stable sales of still bottled wine.

From January through June, Brazil imported 79.4 million liters of wine worth €234.3 million, according to Brazilian SECEX trade records analyzed by the Spanish Wine Market Observatory, or OIVE, and reported by Mercados del Vino. Compared with the same period a year earlier, that was an increase of 9.1% in volume and 5.9% in value.

The figures show that Brazil bought 6.6 million more liters of imported wine than it did in the first half of 2025 and spent €13.1 million more. Because volume rose faster than value, the average import value fell 2.9% to €2.95 per liter. That gap points to lower unit prices, a shift toward less expensive products, or both, although the available data do not fully separate those effects.

The Brazilian market remained heavily centered on bottled wine. That category accounted for almost all imported wine purchases during the semester, reaching 76.6 million liters, up 10.3%, and €216.1 million in value, up 6.6%. Bottled wine represented 96% of the total imported volume and 92% of total import value.

Chile strengthened its position as Brazil’s main foreign wine supplier. Shipments from Chile reached 39.2 million liters in the first six months of the year, up 11.9%, with a value of nearly €93 million, up 9.7%. That gave Chile roughly half of all wine imported by Brazil during the period.

Argentina ranked second by volume, with 13.5 million liters, a 14.5% increase, and €39.9 million in value, up 1.7%. Portugal followed closely with 13.2 million liters, up 6.2%, and €36.6 million in value, up 11.8%. Italy placed fourth by volume at 4.8 million liters and fifth by value at €19.7 million. France ranked fourth by value with €27.5 million, although its overall sales slipped slightly.

Spain did not share in the broader market expansion. Its wine sales to Brazil fell 8.6% in volume to 3.5 million liters and 7.2% in value to €10.1 million during the first half of the year. Based on the rounded figures, that implies a drop of about 329,000 liters and roughly €784,000 from the same period in 2025.

The decline left Spain in fifth place among suppliers by volume and sixth by value in the Brazilian market. Its average export value to Brazil rose 1.5% to €2.85 per liter, even as total shipments declined. That increase suggests the downturn came more from the mix of products sold than from broad price discounting across all categories.

The main reason was sparkling wine. Brazilian imports of Spanish sparkling wine fell 35.5% in volume to 642,000 liters and 31.3% in value to €1.9 million. That retreat was large enough for Spain to lose to France its previous leadership position in imported sparkling wine by volume in Brazil.

Outside sparkling wine, Spain’s performance was far more stable. Sales of Spanish bottled still wine, the country’s main product in Brazil, rose about 1% in volume to 2.9 million liters and 1.3% in value to €8.1 million. The average value of that category held almost unchanged at €2.82 per liter.

That split performance helps explain why Spain underperformed in a market that continued to grow overall. Brazil’s import growth was driven more by volume than by value, and suppliers with stronger exposure to the biggest segments of the market, especially bottled still wine, benefited most. Spain’s still wines broadly held their position, but the steep contraction in sparkling wine erased those gains.

The first-half data also fit a longer trend of expansion in Brazil’s wine imports. In the 12 months ending in June 2026, the country imported 171.7 million liters of wine worth €464.9 million, according to the same analysis. That represented increases of 6.1% in volume and 3.1% in value from the prior 12-month period.

The Brazilian figures cited in the report are based on secondary data and rounded totals. Mercados del Vino said the analysis relied on SECEX records reviewed by OIVE. Because the values were expressed in euros and the category detail is limited, the data do not allow a full separation of pricing changes, product mix shifts, and exchange-rate effects. Even so, the broad pattern is clear: Brazil kept buying more imported wine in the first half of 2026, but Spain was left outside much of that growth because of a sharp setback in sparkling wine.