The most recent SipSource data covering the last 12 months’ sales of wine retailing for over $11 in the US up to October 2024, has attracted a lot of attention. Of particular interest has been the rise in demand for White Blends and Pinot Grigio. If one sets aside the 1.2% marginal hike in Sauvignon Blanc sales, these two categories were the only winners in a year where all the others lost traction.
Worst hit were ‘Red Other’ (-17.4%), Merlot (-13.3%), Rosé (-12.8%) and Red Blends (-11.2%).
Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay sales fell too, by 4.5 and 4.7% respectively, while Pinot Noir slipped even further. But, even at their reduced level, these three varieties plus Red Blends still represent well over 80% of the US wine market by value.
Reading these figures, producers and distributors may feel tempted to increase their offer of White Blends and Pinot Grigio, but, taken together, these two categories would need to see growth of over 500% before they came close to the current revenues generated by Chardonnay alone. And that is unlikely to happen, at least, not in the short-to-medium term.
Those promoting the notion that ‘consumers are bored with Cabernet and Merlot; they want reds made from autochthonous grapes’ are also going to have a hard time explaining that near-vertiginous fall in ‘Red Other’ sales.
SipSource is a data source created by Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA). For the sake of accuracy, it should be noted that, while its data cover sales of over 225,000 wines and spirits through more than 450,000 on- and off-premise outlets in the US. 30% of wholesale products by volume are not included in these figures. Perhaps other trends might be apparent of we had comprehensive data. But SipSource's 70% should offer a pretty fair indication of what is happening now, if not what may happen next.
