Wines are Back in Business
The month of May 2011 registered an all time high in spurring the sales in domestic wines in the U.S. With the Easter season falling on the four-week period this year and the growing number of wine consumers in the U.S., there’s no doubt, these reasons made this growth possible.
According to a Chicago-based market research firm, Symphony IRI group, domestic wine dollar sales have increased by 10% as compared to the same four-week period in 2010. This was attributed to the increase in demand during the Easter season falling within this four-week research period this year while it did not fall in the same four-week period in 2010. Aside from the four-week period, domestic table wine sales also grew by 6% over the 52-week period. This was evident in major food and drug stores, where SIRI had conducted its research. Domestic wine dollar sales growth of 6% was far better than the 1% growth made by importable table wines.
As ham is known to be a staple at Easter dinners, more wine consumers have been spending on some great quality, fastest growing luxury wine varietals to complement their Easter ham. Most wine varietals that have been favored by consumers ranged from the $20 wines to the $8 wines. Leading the $20-plus category is the Cabernet Sauvignon with Chardonnay not too far behind. A whopping 21% growth has been recorded for the 52-week performance of domestic table wines in the whole price-category. The demand and sales for sparkling wines also grew within the four-week period, proving that sparkling wines are not only for the Christmas holidays. These showed a 24% increase in domestics and 32% for imported bubbly. The numbers reflected in their 52-week performance with a 37% growth for imported sparkling wines and 63% growth for domestic sparkling wines.
This marks a big change in America’s economy. With the rapid growth in wine sales, people are certainly getting back to usual stuff, frenzy over their favorite vintages to cap every celebration. But it’s not just the reds that people are going crazy about. Now, with a wider range of classic and fine wines in different price ranges on the list, people are able to choose wines of great quality for a $10 to $15 value and wines of even greater quality for $15-plus value. Media marketing played a pivotal role in advertising the varieties of wines that the consumers may choose from. With the kind of attitude we now have in using web for many specific reasons, no wonder our appetite for wines has also grown throughout these years.
Sparkling and bubbly wines have also made it big, especially this year. While the age bracket of wine consumers gets younger and younger each year, the preference for more youthful spirits by sparkling wines have obviously been a hit for the generation X wine consumers. Though our favorite reds are still on top of the best-selling wine varieties, more people have found joy in drinking refreshing wine sparkles during special occasions. In several occasions, popping of champagne bottles signals the start of the celebration. This is quite noticeable in international race competitions, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, etc.
Not only that U.S. has rekindled or developed a new level of enthusiasm for wines, the greater news above all these is the support that domestic wine producers have been getting from their consumers. Statistics above reflected the dominance of locally made wines over imported wines, something that domestic producers and sellers take pride in.
This good news has set new standards for wine drinking in the U.S. Apparently, wines have become a part of one’s social life, that wines are not only for special occasions and celebrations but also as regular table fares.