Winery Hiring Activity Heats Up
All key industry metrics for April positive; DtC sales up 17%

The index, based on postings to winejobs.com, also grew 19% compared to the past 12-month period. Each of the subcategory indexes—winemaking, sales and marketing, and hospitality—also rose in April. Winemaking grew 34%, and the hospitality index rose by a whopping 54% compared to April 2014.
Increased winery hiring activity also came with strong direct-to-consumer shipments, steady growth in off-premise sales and a surge in wine offers by flash websites, according to the latest wine industry metrics report by Wines Vines Analytics.
Off-premise sales of domestic table wine and sparkling wine combined grew by 5% in April compared to April 2014, according to IRI, maintaining a 12-month growth rate of 5% for the fifth consecutive month.
Focus on white varietals
Since white wine season is approaching, Wines & Vines looked at white wine varietals for this month’s off-premise report, and especially the white wine that is the top-selling varietal overall: Chardonnay. Sales of Chardonnay from all countries totaled $1.9 billion and 24 million cases during the past 12 months in the U.S. stores analyzed by IRI, the market-research firm based in Chicago, Ill.
Chardonnay’s growth rate was 3% in value but just 1% in volume, reflecting the same disparity between dollars and volume that the entire market has been experiencing. While those are not big growth percentages, Chardonnay dominates the market so much that it’s instructive to look at which price segments within the varietal account for the most sales and which are contributing most to its expansion.
Overall sales are highest for Chardonnay priced at $5-$7.99 per bottle; the next two higher priced segments are in second and third place. But the huge $5-$7.99 category shrank by 3% during the past 12 months, while every higher priced segment grew.
The change in sales data for Chardonnay captures the dynamic of the market as a whole: very slow volume growth but a definite move up the price ladder by the average consumer. Chardonnay priced $8-$10.99 rose 3%; $11-$14.99 rose 9%; $15-$19.99 rose 8%, and bottles priced $20 and more rose 15%.
Wines & Vines reports on off-premise wine sales using IRI’s broadest measure, the multi-outlet and C-store category collected from checkout scan data. Stores whose sales are tallied in this category include supermarkets, drugstores, mass-market retailers, gas and convenience stores, military commissaries and selected club and dollar retail chains.
Chardonnay dominant in DtC
DtC shipments in April followed a seasonal trend of declining from March levels, but total shipments were still up 17% this past month compared to April 2014. Shipments in April totaled $184 million, and the 12-month total of $1.9 billion was 15% higher than the previous 12-months.
Chardonnay is the leading white varietal in the DtC channel as well. In the past 12 months, shipments of the varietal accounted for nearly $150 million in value, which is three times more than all shipments of the second-most popular varietal, Sauvignon Blanc. Chardonnay is more dominant in DtC sales than off-premise, and the average bottle price is $31 compared to $21.50 for Sauvignon Blanc.
Flash sales higher
Flash websites, which offer select wines at a discount for a limited amount of time, also demonstrated more activity in April. Last Bottle Wines and Invino both made more than 100 offers during special sales events. The total offers in April came to 554, which is 21% more than April 2014. The 12-month total of offers is also up 11%.
Last Bottle Wines offered several high-end Napa Valley wines including Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate and Bryant Family Vineyard wines. A 1997 vintage Screaming Eagle offered by Last Bottle Wines for $3,695 was the highest priced flash offer in April. As one would expect, almost all of the highest priced wines sold by flash websites are from Napa Valley, but Last Bottle Wines did offer a few high-priced wines from the Central Coast cult producer Sine Qua Non and Washington’s Quilceda Creek Vintners.
The high-price offers are the exception as nearly 60% of all offers in the past 72 months had a flash price of less than $20. Most wines are also offered with a discount of 50% or more of the winery retail price.
SHARE »
CURRENT NEWS INDEX ยป