U.S. Wine Drinking Habits Indicate California Love

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Apr 11th 2006 at 6:33PM

Decanter has the results of two interesting studies that explore the choices U.S. consumers make regarding wine. In terms of domestic consumption, California is king. Two out of every three bottles sold in the U.S. are from California. The Supreme Court decision to permit wineries to sell directly to consumers and the "Sideways" effect are believed to have contributed to the rise in sales. "Premium" wines, which are considered to be those over $7 were two thirds of the sales. Another market research study from Chicago-based Information Resources Inc (IRI) reports good news for wines from Europe and New Zealand. The study, called The 2005 Table Wine Top 30 Brand Performers, found that European table wines grew 9.4% last year . The sales of Spanish table wines was up 23.1% and German wines are up 18.9%. The really good news is for New Zealand wine producers. Their sales were up 190.5%.

Tags: california wine, chardonnay, new zealand wine, pinot noir, sideways, wine, wine consumption, wine drinking, wine habits

Filed under: Wine

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Kerry Apr 11th 2006 8:31PM

Is Port a wine? And is Sherry a wine? I am so addicted to wines, it's bad. I hate liquor & beer, but I love wines. If I drink liquor, I have to add cold water, cause I just hate the taste & burn of it. I don't add sugary stuff to make it sweet. I even have to add water to port and sherry sometimes, cause they hit you a little hard too, but at a slower pace sometimes.

rip Apr 11th 2006 9:02PM

Makes sense considering California wines tend to be consistently good. French wines can vary widely in quality from year to year. Most people have neither the time nor the inclination to figure out which years to buy.