I am clearly having more time again, and I relish being able to read through blog posts again. It’s inspiring, and I have missed being able to do so over the last couple of months. Given that, it’s also time to resuscitate my Sunday Read column. I doubt it will get back to a full regular schedule, but I still want to use it to point you to articles I liked or consider interesting/thought-provoking.
In 2012, a Sunday Read pointed to Liz Thach’s post on statistics on the US wine industry. The other day, I cam across her Trends in the US Wine Industry for 2015 post, which is based on the 2015 Unified Wine Symposium and some articles. Thach is a professor at Sonoma State University and the geek in me gets a kick out of her bibliography at the end of the article.
Things that impressed me most in this article:
- California’s dominance in the market (60%!!)
- Per capita consumption is still low at 2.82 gallons (10.7 liters). That’s not a lot by any measure. These Wine Institute numbers for 2012 (it’s the most recent I could find – the US consumed 10.42 liters in 2012) indicate France consuming 44.19 liters (so roughly four times that), Switzerland drinking 40.44 liters, and even beer-addicted Germans drining 23.98 liters. Note that the Vatican tops the list at 73.78 liters annually per capita!!!
- 36% of consumers using a wine app to check reviews or compare prices when shopping for wine. I guess not having a smartphone is the reason why it’s hard for me to wrap my head around that.
Have a great Sunday, and keep warm!
the winegetter 