Findings From Recent U.S. Wine Consumer Study
A new study of over 2400 U.S. wine consumers conducted by research firm Yankelovich found that California is the favored state for wine. Other regions weren’t as close in description to California by those surveyed who said the wine is ‘an easy to enjoy taste, versatile, appropriate for many occasions, a good value and consistent’.
Information gathered from the study also found that wine consumers share different characteristics than the rest of the American public, and are more likely to:
* Be open to new experiences
* Follow their own path in life
* Be information-savvy and confident consumers
* Desire intangibles, experiences and emotions
* Have their life priorities in order
* Eschew brands as badges
They also enjoy wine in intimate gatherings, and choose it to enhance an experience (insert joke here). They look to friends and family first for wine recommendations, and 40% received information from some type of journal on wine in the last 3 months. The majority purchase wine by the glass when in restaurants.
So what have we learned here? To me, a lot of these things already seem like common sense. Wines by the glass are a great way to try different wines, just as most dinners in your group order different meals. All you need to do is look around next time you dine to realize people prefer by-the-glass wine.
Friends and family as a resource? Definitely, I get calls from them all the time, someone they trust with a similar taste.
California is king in the U.S. wine industry. That’s not to say that Oregon or Washington are far behind, but in sales volume, high marks from professional tasters, amount of wineries etc. it’s easy to see Cali’s on top.
As far as lifestyle/personality conditions found by the study, I’ll let you draw your own conclusions on those. I’m running a little late, according to my Tag. I need to wrap this post up on this new Macbook Pro, jump in the Beemer, and head off to Quince in the city for lunch. Ciao.
You can view the summary of the study commisioned by the Wine Institute on their website.
