The common opinion is that wine sales are in trouble. While overall sales are definitely down, not all market segments are the same. Here's where you'll find growth.
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| Best-selling wine in the US |
The ultra-premium end of the market is doing well. The $100-up wines are doing well, the over $250 wines are doing even better. This represents a small fraction of the wine market.
Showing slight growth are the everyday drinkers, wines from $15 to $30.
Rosé and sparkling wines are seeing growth. Sparkling's growth has been at the lower prices of Prosecco, Cava, and sparkling rosé. Prosecco went from less than 10% of Italian wine exports 15 years ago to 27% now.
White wines have taken over the market and now outselling reds. See a previous blog post on The Growth of White Wine.
Even New Zealand has seen a big drop in the sales of the inexpensive Sauvignon Blanc. Wineries there cut back production severely in the harvest that just ended. Considering the increasing interest in white wines and value wines they might just see the quickest turnaround ever.
In red wines, interest is higher for blends when made so they are approachable when young.
What seems to be common in most of the growth results are price and value. White and pink wines are less expensive than reds.
What's considered the average Sonoma County premium single varietal wines run from $45 to $80 (my estimate). That part of the market isn't doing well.
What might seem counterintuitive, the $10-under segment did a nosedive. Why? People don't want to spend a lot, but they want good value. The super-cheap end of the market can't handle the increasing costs of bottles, corks, and the rest. Suddenly, an $8 mediocre wine is $11 to cover increasing costs. You might as well spend about five or ten bucks more and get a decent wine.
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