Hi! I just got back from the Unified Wine and grape Symposium in Sacramento, which ran from Tuesday through Thursday. Many interesting seminars for those who registered for them. Most people just go to the equipment and services show, but the real value, in my opinion, is the seminars. In each of the time slots, there is a seminar each in marketing, winemaking and viticulture. I go mostly to the winemaking ones, of course. The morning session, though, is a long industry-wide seminar.
Basically, the trends discussed last year have extended. The big growth is on high end sweets, sales up over 200%. Muscat, sales up 64%. Petite Sirah, sales way up, Pinot Noir, sales up, Cab and Chard holding their own, Merlot and Syrah way down, Sauv. Blanc down. New category, sales skyrocketing, value priced sweet reds. As you may know, my Black Muscat and Gewurztraminers anticipated these trends 20 years ago. As was predicted, largest dollar demographic is middle age through retirees, as they have the most money to spend. Largest volume growth, though, was the new young drinkers 21-30, children of boomers, so it is a sizable demographic, and they buy what tastes delicious (thus the growth of the modest-priced sweet market), which it is anticipated will continue. The USA is the largest market in volume and dollars, overtaking france, though the per-capita consumption is still modest. China and India are the big growth markets, but sales in those places are still very small in terms of both money and wine volume.
