Who’s Drinking Wine? A Look at the Wine Market Council’s Latest Survey
The news is good for winemakers according to the recent presentation by the Wine Market Council. The council’s sixth annual U.S. Wine Consumer Trends presentation confirmed that this new year marks 17 years of consecutive growth of wine consumption in the U.S.
John Gillespie, president of the Wine Market Council revealed that wine consumption continued to grow through two recessions, albeit at reduced rates. In 2010, U.S. consumers downed 276 million cases of table wine. But it is the core wine drinkers that really keep the numbers high. This group, defined as those who drink wine daily, several times a week or about once a week, is about 20 percent of the population (approximately 46 million U.S. adults). This dedicated group accounts for 91 percent of all wine consumption. Marginal drinkers defined as those who drink wine less often than weekly represent 31 million U.S. adults.
