Recession or no, the American wine market just keeps on growing. In fact, 2014 is projected to be the 21st consecutive year of expansion, according to the latest edition of The U.S. Wine Market: Impact Databank Review and Forecast.
True, the global financial crunch has trimmed a couple percentage points off pre-recessionary growth, from an annual average of 3.1 percent from 2003 to 2008 to 1.2 percent from 2008 to 2013. This year, the growth rate is forecast to be a relatively anemic 0.3 percent, which may not seem impressive by past rates but still figures into an almost 80 percent increase in domestic wine consumption over the last 20 years, an increase that last year saw the U.S. leapfrog France to become the world’s top wine-consuming nation.
Chardonnay retains its position as the country’s best-selling varietal, according to the report, with Cabernet Sauvignon in second place, and Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and Moscato posting enviable gains.
The star of the show, however, is sparkling wine, whose consumption has grown faster than any other varietal and the market as a whole for five straight years, a streak expected to continue in 2014. Much of the bubbly boom is driven by the increasing popularity of prosecco and consumers’ perception of sparklers as more than just occasional celebration wines. Though sparkling wines constitute just five percent of the domestic wine market, over the past several years production has increased by 25 percent. But while we may be making and drinking more bubbles than ever, we still lag behind to top five sparkling wine producers: France, Italy, Germany, Spain and (believe it or not), Russia.
Must be those frigid Russian winters.