THE WINE MARKET IN THE US IS EXPECTED TO GROW EVEN IN 2014, THOUGH ONLY + 0.3%, TO 2.9 BILLION LITERS OF WINE CONSUMED, REPORTED THE LATEST EDITION OF "THE US WINE MARKET: IMPACT DATABANK REVIEW AND FORECAST"

The wine market in the US is expected to grow also in 2014, for the twenty-first consecutive year, albeit by a modest 0.3%, to 2.9 billion liters of wine consumed, 9 million liters more than 2013, according the latest edition of "The US Wine Market: Impact Databank Review & Forecast", reported by "Shanken News Daily" (www.shankennewsdaily.com). According to Shanken, the US will not lose the record reached a year ago as the top wine consumer in the world, ahead of France.
Overall growth in the last three years has seen a slowdown, due to still less than brilliant economic conditions. However, before the recent recession, the wine market increased on average 3.1% per year in the five years from 2003 to 2008, then slowed down dramatically, to an average growth of 1.2% per year in the five-year period 2008-2013. Consumption, instead, increased almost 80% over two decades, despite two major recessions in the US and the continued impact of the global financial crisis.
The best performance will once again be sparkling wines, which will be much better than all other categories on the US wine market for the sixth consecutive year.
The expected increase is 2.9% in 2014, for 144 million liters sold, which is a new record high (the previous was 141.3 million liters sold in 1999, due mainly to New Millennium celebrations). The recent growth lies heavily on the continuing success of Prosecco, which the represents 5% of the entire US wine market.
Among table wines, Chardonnay is still the best-selling variety, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon. The top growing wines are Moscato, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc. Finally, it is important to highlight that national brands are growing the most and US brand table wines account for 75% of total consumption.