One of the “next big things” in wine? Sicily, one of the trendiest wine regions in 2023

One of the “next big things” in wine is Sicily. It is one of the trendiest wine regions that will experience a real “boom” in 2023, followed by Paso Robles in California, Douro in Portugal, Piedmont and Mendoza. This is the result of a survey conducted by Colangelo & Partners, one of the leading American integrated communication agencies specializing in the wine and spirits world, and in food, and for the first time together with “Wine Opinions”, the market research company that provides data relating to the US wine industry. The two companies have combined resources and skills to develop a study on the wine trade in the United States to support companies' marketing strategies. The sample surveyed included over 1.000 people distributed throughout the United States - 50% in the States of New York and California, followed by Florida, Washington and Colorado.
“We have combined our databases and our experience in the wine sector, and have collected statistical data that will be crucial for our clients, who are heading towards an uncertain economic climate in 2023, to develop marketing strategies”, Gino Colangelo, president of Colangelo & Partners explained. “We plan to make this an annual survey, building on the results of this edition, to continue to support wine marketing activities”, John Gillespie, founder and CEO of “Wine Opinions” underlined.
“One of the most interesting results is the demographic data of the respondents. 39% of all female respondents were under the age of 40, while only 26% of male respondents were in that same age group. This suggests that the younger drinker segment is leaning towards a greater gender balance than before, when the percentage of males was higher”.
The survey touched on a broad range of topics, including price sensitivity in a potentially recessionary economic environment, growth forecasts for categories such as organic wines and the so-called "better for you wines", the wine industry's preferred social channels, preference for face-to-face versus virtual events, emerging secondary markets, and forecasts of what's new in terms of wine regions. Three hundred and twenty-eight respondents expressed their predictions on what the 2023 wine region will be, crowning Sicily and Italy, and also indicating the Piedmont region.
Other data indicated the interviewees predicted that the “sweet spot” for spending on wine — in other words, the inclination, the pleasure in buying wine — will undergo a slight price increase in 2023, reaching 21 US dollars (compared to 20 US dollars in 2022), suggesting there are no concerns related to higher spending in this category, in spite of forecasts of economic uncertainty in the United States.
Looking instead towards the next three years, the respondents were optimistic about an increase in market shares for the categories of “better for you” (in other words, more “healthy”), and “zero alcohol” wines. 34% of respondents expect good or excellent growth for the former and 29% expect good or excellent growth for the latter.
Another factor is the new preference for face-to-face events over virtual events. They also indicated that walk-around tastings continue to be popular.
Trends related to the new key markets for 2023 were also indicated, first of all the cities of Denver and Chicago, followed by Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin and Miami.
And finally, the new trends for wine in social media. The wine sector’s favorite social platform is Instagram, as one might have expected, but, surprisingly, almost half of the respondents said they use TikTok at work. TikTok users are younger, as 58% are under the age of 40, while only 6% are over 60. Overall, the survey found that businesses at various levels in the wine world, use social channels fairly constantly.