Well this was a fun morning read (US wine trends):
I’m sure that many of the wine press reporters will look to spin this negatively to drive readership, the reality is far more nuanced. And I couldn’t help trying to read between the lines to decipher what this means for us and the narrow segment of wine we love.
Overall this looks very positive. Wine sales in the US are near all time highs, and consumers are on a strong trend going up-price on their wine buying. 2018 was generally a very good vintage. The most interesting issues for small producers seem to be changes in winery visit habits and restaurant/bar consumption interests. If these hold up small producers are going to have to figure out how to adapt to a world where consumers are looking for experiences beyond traditional tastings and fine dining. But I’m sure wineries have the imagination and energy to solve these puzzles. In fact we’ve discussed many of these trends here.
What do folks think? How useful is this info for those ITB here?
I love the report and find it very useful and worthwhile. Rob McMillan of SVB says it started as sort of an ad hoc, blog post type of analysis and has now become a 4-month endeavor.
I’m still absorbing but my general first run through has been a lot of nodding. Talks of headwinds that I haven’t actually seen yet (but that I think are real based on the grape and bulk wine markets), potential oversupply of grapes and wine in the near future, labor shortages, regulations/changing legal landscape both federal and local are a PiTA, cannabis both for labor and substitution concerns, how to attract millennials to wine rather than craft beer/cocktails/cannabis.
I’ve read some of it and I believe he’s spot-on. The wine industry, especially for small wineries, it’s getting more and more challenging. Lots of alternative beverages out there, we are not doing our best to attract new customers.
We just need to collectively work harder to have potential customers understand who we are, what we do oh, and how we do it in a straightforward and non-judgmental way.
Above all, remember that wine continues to be intimidating for so many people out there, whereas craft beer and craft Spirits are not. To me, there lies the biggest challenge.