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Commercial wine is made in all but 6 states in the U.S.
California produces 90% of the wine made in the U.S. and accounts for 75% of total U.S. wine sales, at a retail value of over $9 billion. Almost 10% of California wine is shipped to export markets. The variety that recorded the greatest percentage growth in supermarket wine sales in 1996 was Zinfandel, outstripping Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot. There are over 350,000 acres of wine grapes in California; over 72,000 are planted to Chardonnay, ten times the amount planted 15 years ago. The California wine industry generates 110,000 jobs annually and an additional 40,000 to 50,000 jobs during the fall harvest. In the 30 days after CBS, on "60 Minutes", reported on "The French Paradox" (the French consume more fatty food than we do but have lower rates of heart disease because they drink more red wine), red wine sales soared 44%. One out of every ten bottles of table wine opened in America is White Zinfandel. Less than half of all American adults, approximately 43 percent, consume alcoholic beverages in a given week and 43% do not consume alcohol at all. Napa Valley, which attracts 5 million visitors/year, recently supplanted Disneyland as California # 1 tourist attraction. 16% of the American population between the ages of 21 and 59 drink 88% of the wine consumed in the United States The average American consumes 1.8 gallons of wine per year compared to 12 gallons of beer, 25 gallons of coffee and 40 gallons of soft drinks. There are nearly 800 wineries operating in California and close to 1500 nationwide. Of the 35 million acres of forest in France, 40% are planted to oak trees; 5% of the annual amount of oak logged is used to make wine barrels. The earliest evidence of wine was recently unearthed in Iran, in a pottery jar dating back at least 7,000 years. California's oldest winery is Mission San Gabriel, founded in 1771 in Los Angeles. Seventy-five percent of the wine consumed in the U.S. is consumed by five percent of the wine drinkers. On average, the French and Italians consume ten times as much wine as Americans and have far lower rates of heart disease. After a decade of steady decline, per capita consumption of wine in the U.S. rose in every state in the union in 1995, except Utah. There are more acres of Grenache in California than there are of Merlot. Most barrels made in the United States are for the aging of Bourbon. An increasing percentage of vineyards in California is being farmed organically. There are ten times as many Chardonnay vines in California today as there were 15 years ago. The variety that recorded the greatest percentage growth in supermarket sales in the first quarter of 1996 was Zinfandel, outstripping Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot. The release price for a bottle of 1993 Domaine Romanee-Conti, the world's most highly reputed red Burgundy, is $850. Commercial wine is made in all but 6 states in the U.S. Phylloxera, the vine pest that has caused the replanting of thousands of acres of vines in California's north coast over the past few years, first devastated the vineyards of Europe in the 1880s. Most European grapevines are planted on American rootstock. The United States ranks fourth among the world's wine-producing countries -- behind Italy, France and Spain -- yet U.S. per capita consumption is a tenth that of the three leading producers. The average American consumes 1.8 gallons of wine per year compared to 40 gallons of soft drinks and 25 gallons of coffee. There are over 700 wineries in California, producing 90% of the wine made in the U.S. and accounting for 75% of total U.S. wine sales, at a retail value of over $9 billion. Almost 10% of California wine is shipped abroad to export markets. There are over 350,000 acres of wine grapes in California. |
