Local winemakers are watching sales figures climb with people
drinking more wine than ever
By Brett Rowland and Jennifer Van Gundy Staff Writers
Americans are drinking more wine than ever and local wineries believe a quest for quality is the driving force behind the jump in sales figures.
A survey of 1,398 wine consumers conducted by Merrill Research of San Mateo found that Americans were drinking more wine – a record 243 million cases in 2004.
“This is the 12th consecutive year that will be another record-setting year for wine sales,” said Glady’s Horiuchi of the San Francisco’s Wine Institute. “Seven hundred and thirteen million gallons are sold each year and the industry is responsible for $25 billion in retail value,” she said. Since two out of every three bottles of wine sold in the country are California wines, the significance of this upswing can hardly be overestimated in its potential to impact local wineries.
In addition to seeing anywhere from a 10 to 25 percent jump in sales, local vintners and retail sellers have noticed that younger people are buying more wine, and those who can afford expensive wine are buying them more often.
“We’ve definitely seen that trend,” said Steve Wilson, marketing director for Guglielmo winery in Morgan Hill. “We have a line of wine that would be considered bargain wine, a table wine, that 15 years ago comprised 100 percent of our sales. Now more than 50 percent of our business comes from the higher priced segment of the market – 20 years ago it would have been nothing.”
Apparently, plying the “two-buck Chuck,” an inexpensive wine by Charles Shaw sold at Trader Joe’s grocery stores, is no longer all the rage.
“That stuff has kind of fallen by the wayside,” said Scott Flint, owner of Flint wine cellars in south San Benito County. “You see a lot of people putting an emphasis on quality – it’s the taste they’re after.”
As a whole, local vintners are finding that the wine-purchasing demographic is younger, better educated, and more sophisticated in their tastes.
“My average customer used to be in their late 40s or 50s,” said Phyllis Pedrizzetti, owner of Pedrizzetti Winery in Morgan Hill. “Now most of them are in their mid-20s. They’re definitely better educated. They’re more careful, they are tasting and choosing rather than just buying wine blindly.”
Many local vintners credit the increase in sales to the health benefits associated with having a glass of wine with dinner.
“America was always the cocktail generation, wine was never big,” said Tim Slater, proprietor at Sarah’s Vineyards, “I think it was the health benefits that got people alerted to wine.”
Several local vintners also attribute the rise in sales to the affects of wine entering mainstream media through the movie “Sideways,” which exalted pinot noir to something of celebrity status.
“If they had done the movie about San Giovese the same thing would have happened,” said Wilson. “Wine connoisseurs generally look for a referral … it makes them feel good that someone liked it.”
“Sideways” cast the entire process of selecting and drinking wine in the cool light of adventure and that has been a boon to the entire wine industry.
“(The movie showed that) wine itself isn’t the adventure, it’s going and discovering it – that’s the adventure,” said Maria Ohlson, tasting room manager at Kirgin Cellars in Gilroy.
The trend toward wine consumption is so prevalent that major grocery chains are sitting up and taking notice. Nob Hill’s parent company Raley’s adjusted its store publication to include more food and wine pairing advice as well as to stock the stores of certain shelves with a larger selection of local wines in order to keep pace with the drinking public’s paradigm shift.
“People seem to be learning more about wine and they are more discerning,” said Raley’s spokesperson Jennifer Ortega.
All things considered, it seem that drinking wine is well on it’s way to being the rule rather than the exception.
“Wine is starting to gain traction and enter mainstream America,” said Horiuchi, “People now consider a glass of wine a part of their dining experience.”
