(Decanter) - The FIFA World Cup has been credited with driving a surge in consumer demand for Brazilian wine in 2014, with exports up by 75% versus the previous year.

Brazil’s wine institute, Ibravin, attributed the leap in exports to marketing and the increased ‘visibility’ of Brazil as last year’s World Cup host nation.

Total Brazilian wine exports reached 2.65m litres in 2014, the equivalent of 3.53m bottles, with a value of $9.5m, Ibravin said.

Exports to the UK, the single largest importer of Brazilian wine, shot up by 400% versus 2013. Exports increased off a relatively low base to the equivalent of 583,00 bottles, worth $1.9m.

Fifteen Brazilian producers export to the UK, and Copestick Murray Wine Importers launched its own brand of Brazilian Moscato a year ago.

‘Miollo, Aurora, Salton and Casa Valduga are the top selling Brazilian producers in the UK,’ said Judy Kendrick of JK Marketing Ltd, the UK marketing agency trade body Wines of Brazil. ‘We are looking for more Brazilian producers to export wine to meet demand,’ Kendrick said.

Nicolas Corfe, commercial director of Go Brazil Wines & Spirits, a UK company that exclusively imports Brazilian wine, said a broad range of styles were selling well.

‘The World Cup was largely responsible for the increase in volumes, but also demand has gained traction over the past five years because of the increase in the quality of Brazilian wines,’ Corfe said.