U.S. WINEMAKERS TAKING SHARE FROM IMPORTS

The U.S. wine industry did better at home in 2005 than in the past ten years according to Information Resources Inc. Despite the fact that imports have reached record marketshare by volume, 22 of the top 30 brands in grocery and drug stores are domestic table wines from California. Australia was the number one import with three brands, Italy came in second, and two of the brands were from Washington’s Chateau Ste. The Californian top-performing brands grew doubly as fast in dollar sales as the general wine market in grocery and drugstores, and six times as fast in volume. Overall, California wines accounted for close to a third of dollar sales and a quarter of volume. California vintners are revitalizing brands and no longer allowing upstart foreign companies to lead the road in innovation, style and pricing. Don Sebastiani Jr., marketing director for Don Sebastiani & Sons International, said: “What was most surprising and almost shocking to me is the breadth of the list and how California dominates it with everything from old, established wine brands to bag-in-the-box products and other more contemporary hip brands.”

Some of the top brands included Black Box Wines, E & J Gallo’s Red Bicyclette and Bronco Wine Co.’s Crane Lake with Gallo and Constellation brands dominating the ranks. The Top 30 Table Wine Brand Performers accounted for 29.4% dollar share and 25.5 % volume share of the total wine category in the U.S., while they gained 2.5 dollar share points and 3.3 volume share points. Overall, 88% of the brands are priced premium starting at $5.50 and can chalk up much of their success to an increased merchandising presence.