Exclusive: U.S. Wine Market On Pace To Grow By More Than 20 Million Cases By 2020

The U.S. wine market is expected to continue its long-term growth streak in 2016, albeit at a modest 1.1% projected increase to nearly 327 million nine-liter cases. The market is expected to add over 3.5 million cases this year, according to the current edition of The U.S. Wine Market: Shanken’s Impact Databank Review and Forecast.

While the U.S. has been the world’s largest wine-consuming nation since 2013, growth has been sluggish the past four years due to lackluster economic conditions. Before the latest recession, the wine market rose by an average of 3.1% annually for the five-year period from 2003 to 2008, but after solid 3.3% growth in 2011, annual volume gains were well under 1% in each of the next four years hence. Still, consumption has increased by over 70% in the past two decades, despite two recessions in that time span.

Sparkling wine is expected to outperform still/table wines and the overall U.S. wine market in 2016 for the eighth consecutive year, with a projected increase of 6% to 18.8 million cases—an all-time high. Recent growth for the sparkling wine sector has come predominantly from the ongoing success of Prosecco, although both domestic and imported brands are on the rise. Sparkling wines are projected to account for nearly 6% of the U.S. market this year.

Among table wines, varietally labeled wines are expected to once again outperform non-varietal brands this year. Chardonnay remains the nation’s largest-selling varietal, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon. But recently, solid growth has come from Moscato, Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. This will mark the ninth successive year that domestic table wines have outperformed imports, with domestic offerings accounting for over three-quarters of the total table wine market.

Looking ahead, the U.S. wine market is projected to continue expanding, reaching over 344 million cases by 2020, for a five-year growth rate of 1.3% annually. Wine, spirits, RTDs and cider will continue to gain share of the total U.S. alcoholic beverage market, at the expense of beer. For more information (including a detailed table of contents) and to order The 2016 U.S. Wine Market as well as other exclusive Shanken reports, visit impactdatabank.com.

Crimson Wine To Build 50,000-Case Winery For Washington’s Double Canyon

Crimson Wine Group’s Double Canyon Vineyards is breaking ground on a new 47,000-square-foot winemaking facility in West Richland, Washington. Set for completion by August 2017, the facility will have an initial production capacity of about 50,000 cases, with the ability to scale up as needed. Double Canyon’s new winery will be located near Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills appellation, as well as Washington State University’s new wine research facility.

The new facility will allow Double Canyon to move all winemaking activities for its namesake Cabernet Sauvignon ($25) in-house. In addition to Double Canyon, which was established in 2007, Crimson recently upped its Washington profile with the acquisition of Walla Walla’s Seven Hills Winery ($28-$45) for $8 million earlier this year. For its full fiscal year through last December, Crimson posted net sales up 5% to $61 million.

News Briefs:

•Wine Spectator has launched a free Restaurant Awards app for iPhone and iPad, allowing consumers to search more than 3,500 award-winning restaurants to find the ultimate wine experience. The app locates Wine Spectator Restaurant Award-winners near a user’s location, and also allows users to look up the perfect dining spot in any city, state or country, choosing by wine strengths, cuisine type, pricing and more. Each restaurant’s profile page provides details on the wine list, cuisine and people. In addition, reservation numbers and directions are available with the touch of a button.

•Ste. Michelle Wine Estates is debuting a new on-premise-only Central Coast wine brand, Canon 13. Launching nationwide in on-premise accounts this month, Canon 13 includes a Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The brand takes as its inspiration the Soledad Mission, the 13th mission located along the El Camino Real, the historic 600-mile stretch connecting dozens of missions and pueblos beginning in the late 1700s.

•Total Wine & More has extended its alliance with delivery provider Instacart to the North Carolina market. Through Instacart, Total Wine will offer delivery of wine and beer to consumers in Charlotte, Raleigh and Durham in as little as an hour. The addition of North Carolina follows successful partnerships between Instacart and Total Wine in Florida, Texas and Massachusetts.

Craft Brewing and Distilling News:

•St. Louis-based Schlafly Beer is rolling out a new variety pack highlighting four different experimental hop varieties that play off of the same base beer. The Hop Trial SMaSH (single malt and single hop) pack features three bottles each of brews made with Hallertau Blanc, Bramling Cross, Enigma and Eureka hops. The Hop Trial pack is available across Schlafly’s distribution footprint, retailing at about $14. Schlafly, which is present in 15 U.S. markets, has a current capacity of 60,000 barrels, and recently announced an expansion that will boost that total to 90,000 barrels by next year.

•Londonderry, New Hampshire’s Moonlight Meadery has added two new ciders to its draft-only lineup. Created for Moonlight’s sixth anniversary, Crimes of Passion (4.14% abv) and Boys n’ Berry (6.13% abv) ciders are both made with freshly-pressed New England apples, with the former also featuring black currant, and the latter boysenberry. The launches follow Moonlight Meadery’s recent addition of a 3,000-gallon fermenter to its 6,000-square-foot mead and cider production facility, allowing for increased innovation. The company’s distribution footprint spans 44 states.

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