Market insights – United States

The USA is the world’s largest wine market, with the largest population of regular wine drinkers and the largest amount of imported wine (by value). The still wine market is around 360 million cases per annum and is forecast to grow to approximately 368 million cases by 2023.
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Overview: The world's largest and most attractive wine market

Wine Intelligence nominated the USA as the world’s most attractive wine market for the third year in a row in 2019 based on its high volume and value and positive economic indicators.

Per capita consumption of wine in the US is currently 9.9 litres per head (2018), which is less than half the Australian average and 33rd in the world.

The seven biggest wine-consuming states are California, Florida, New York, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois and Massachusetts. They account for over half of all US wine consumption. Off-premise is the largest channel in terms of volume with an 80 per cent share of the market. The top-selling varieties are Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Gris. On-premise consumption is dominated by eating establishments, accounting for over 80 per cent of the channel.

In 2018, the USA market consumed 98 million cases of imported grape wine valued at nearly $US 13 billion

Australia is the third largest source of wine imports into the US by volume behind Italy and France, and fifth largest by value. Its overall share of imported wine is around 14 per cent by volume.

The USA is Australia’s second largest export market, accounting for approximately 15 per cent of exported wine value in 2018-19.

While the US market might be the most attractive, it is also a difficult and challenging market. This is due to a number of factors including the declining number of wine consumers, large amount of competition in alcoholic beverages and its very complex and highly regulated distribution system.

Opportunities exist for Australian winemakers in this market, particularly in the premium wine segment, which is expected to grow in 2019 despite the overall market being flat.

Conducting research on USA trade and consumers has also been useful in highlighting four key opportunities for Australian wine.  Taking advantage of these findings will help shift the needle towards increasing consumer demand for Australian wine, improving access, building awareness and changing quality perceptions.

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Reports listing

: Restricted to levy payers and wine exporters. Some reports are available for purchase - find out more

USA state wine markets - ease of access summary

The ‘Ease of access to US markets’ map is a single page summary which allows for identifying the ease of access to each of the 50 states’ wine markets for Australian exporters.

USA off-trade wine sales report

This report summarises the United States off-trade still wine market by wine style, colour, brand, country of origin and price point. 

Report on USA wine exports at $10 per litre and above

Summary of Australian wine exports to the USA sold at A$10 and above per litre (FOB). Includes total value and volume, top five export destinations and top five regional and variety label claims by price point.

Wine import market reports

Summarises wine imports for various markets by three categories - bulk wine, bottled wine and sparkling wine. The report assists Australian wine exporters understand trends in global wine trade.

USA on-trade wine sales trend report

This report summarises the United States (USA) on-trade still wine market by wine style, colour, category, country of origin and varietal. Statistics are presented separately by channel and by major city.

Consumer wine consumption behaviour during and post COVID-19 in Australia, UK and the USA

Presentation by Wine Intelligence detailing how wine consumers in Australia, the USA and the UK have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic before and during lockdown, and how they anticipate their behaviour will change after the removal of restrictive measures.

USA market insights report

The Wine Australia market insight report series are a valuable resource for wine businesses when determining the viability of exporting to a wine market, identifying opportunities and/or potential risks or to simply monitor changes in the market.

Silicon Valley Bank USA state of the industry report

The Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) Wine Industry Report presents an analysis of current conditions and forecasts for the United States (USA) wine industry.

Research report: Driving the strategic growth of Australian wines in the US export market

This research identified the barriers to selling Australia premium wines at US$12 retail and above in the US market and developed a simple tool to help Australian wine exporters identify the best-matched trade and consumer groups for their offerings.

Research report: USA Wine Opinions consumer, trade and online sales research reports

The results of several years of research conducted by Wine Opinions on behalf of Wine Australia to determine opportunities for market share expansion in the US market through consumer and trade surveys and analysis of online sales data.

Navigating the US distribution system

This report, prepared by our Market Insights team, provides details of the three-tier system and different state regulations in the US for the distribution and sale of alcohol.