Wine Industry Shipping Data

The Silicon Valley Bank released its annual State of the US Wine Industry report. Following is some info on shipping from 2023. Other insights from the report are in the previous post, dated Feb 13th.

Overall, shipping wine to consumers is down. Washington State, however, went against the trend and increased their shipping by 5.5% in volume and 11% in dollars. Most of the growth was in Cabernet Sauvignon. Washington's volume is less than 20% of California's.

Napa Valley is still on top, with almost half of the $4 billion US wine shipping market. The average price of a bottle of Napa Cab shipping was $132! It sounds like some Cabernet Sauvignon lovers are buying from Washington state now.

All direct-to-consumer sales are down as tasting room visitation dropped for the second straight year. This is probably due to the cost, as lodging and tasting room fees have increased significantly in the most popular wine country regions.

State of the US Wine Industry

The annual State of the US Wine Industry Report from Silicon Valley Bank is out. Shipping data will be  covered in the next post. Following are highlights on the rest. Their data is based on wineries responding to a survey.

Wine Tasting Funnies

 Time to joke it up

The Rise and Fall of Vintage Wine Estates

Vintage Wine Estates (VWE on Nasdaq) is a company that owns multiple brands. They are small compared to the likes of Constellation Brands or Gallo. The company was born about 20 years ago right here in Santa Rosa, CA, and they are apparently in trouble.

pH in Wine

Wine is chemistry-driven. Wine writer Dan Berger has written many great, no nonsense articles on the subject of wine over many years. This one is about the influence of pH on what makes a good dinner wine or what should age well. An important bit of information for the wine drinker, even if the subject is a little nerdy.   :)

The Unforeseen Influence of pH on Wine Quality 

Low Cost Wine Tastings in Napa

  The last I read, someone had figured out the average cost of a wine tasting in Napa was about $60, the Visit Napa Valley website says $40 is the average for basic tastings, an unscientific check I did of four random tastings rooms scattered throughout the valley shows $50-$75 for their cheapest tasting. The average cost of a bottle in Napa has been over $100 for a while. Before you say, "OMG!" remember these are averages, meaning there are plenty below this. 

  The trick is finding them without cruising through the websites for hundreds of wineries. The last winery I knew of that offered free tastings was Sutter Home, but they are now $10. So they are probably the cheapest.