Interesting data via blog - Sales Growth in Premium Wineries up 21%

I found this blog post (and the chart, in particular) fascinating - it’s such a huge jump

During the Great Recession, we saw the sales growth rate for premium wineries go from 22.3 percent just prior to the recession, to -3.8 percent when the recession hit, and then sales popped back to 19.8 percent growth the next year.

Similarly, with this COVID period, we had sales fall from 5.6% to -0.6 percent. Then in 2021, sales growth exploded up to 21.0 percent. That’s really an amazing number and well in excess of what I expected.

https://svbwine.blogspot.com/2022/01/signup-2022-svb-state-of-industry-report.html?fbclid=IwAR2vvIpnOzVBg2OauLdhaaqDBkibOUgqw79ksHuZH9dXJPcHdrY4l8SOje8

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So Rob presents every year at the Oregon Wine Symposium. Keep in mind that, as I recall, SVB/Rob’s definition of “premium” is >$10 ! It’s only a useful marker because the <$10 market has been in decline with younger generations for quite a while…. And wine >$30 is considered “luxury wine.” I wish he would change all this terminology! I feel like this is the battle we fight every day, convincing clients that a $35 bottle of Pinot Noir is not a luxury item to be hidden away for a special occasion….

Wow, seriously? $10???

Is the price including tariffs?

We can see massive inflation in the bottles that were already among the most expensive, and unfortunately this is more a sign of growing wealth inequality than anything else. As we build more and more scalable companies and investments, there is more and more winner take all. It’s important to always realize that we are in a very fortunate minority.

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Yes, he sees the market from 40,000 feet and a lot of cheap wine is being sold to the masses. But still these categories are terrible. The 2021 report didn’t outline these market segments in much detail, nor define the terms, but you can see it in the 2020 report starting on page 30 that wine below $9/bottle/retail is considered a “generic wine”, $9 to $19 is considered “mid-price premium” and $20 and above is “luxury and super-premium.” https://www.svb.com/globalassets/library/uploadedfiles/reports/svb-2020-state-of-the-wine-industry-report-final.pdf. I believe that in 2021 he increased it to $10.

Yes, this the the retail price of a 750ml bottle. See my previous response to Todd for more info on these categories.

The entire report from SVB for last year is now available:

Highlights from their email:

Some key findings and highlights from the 2022 report include:

  • Premium wine sales were positively impacted by several one-time events during reopening in 2021, which will lead to another good year for premium wine in 2022, but at lower growth rates.


  • Attracting younger, health-conscious, multi-cultural consumers to the wine industry will continue to be a challenge, especially as these consumers increasingly choose spirits, beer and spiked seltzers over wine, and as older core wine consumers age.


  • In the West, the impact of drought will likely become a focal point of industry discussions and planning in 2022. With increasing climate impacts from drought, fire, low soil moisture and record low reservoir levels, there will be even more pressure to manage this shared and increasingly scarce resource.


  • The restaurant industry will continue to decline as a sales channel for wine due to overpricing on the menu and consumers who value other alcoholic beverages over wine. Restaurants will find that wine is not in demand at the prices charged and that maintaining deep stocks of wine is not worth the cost
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