Cabernet Sauvignon led in the category of average price per bottle among U.S. wines shipped direct-to-consumer during the 12 months ending in November. Pinot Noir was in second place, not surprisingly. Would you have guessed, however, that sparkling wine and Cabernet Franc would tie for third? Or that Chardonnay's price would be higher than those for Syrah and Merlot? The DtC data comes from collaboration between Wines & Vines and compliance software firm ShipCompliant.
As the holiday season began in November, domestic wine sales at major retail stores and via direct-to-consumer shipments soared much higher than in October, also outpacing the numbers from November 2009. Further, winery job activity outpaced last year. True, the recession aftermath still dragged down many wineries’ profits, and on-premise sales have been slow to recover, but the metrics on this page paint a very positive picture.
—Jim Gordon
Off-premise sales shot up in November, the beginning of the holiday entertaining season. Furthermore, the four-week performance of domestic table wines at major U.S. food and drug stores surpassed the December level from 2009. Source: Symphony IRI Group.
Direct-to-consumer shipments by U.S. wineries in November surpassed the similar period from 2009 by 26%, reaching $178 million in value and 358,000 9-liter case equivalents sold. Source: Wines & Vines/ShipCompliant Shipment Model.
Winery hiring activity beat last year's level by 38% in November, as measured by the Winejobs.com Index of winery job postings. Overall postings were down from October as the crush season ended. Source: Winejobs.com.
