8 Facts You Need To Know About Wine

Americans drink more win than any other country.

By Steven A. Morelli

So, you’re venturing out into the world again, getting together and chatting with friends, family and strangers, but there’s just one problem – what do you talk about?

Everything is the third rail now. Even movies are cause for political arguments. Well, how about a nice bottle of wine chat?

This weekend, you can astound your friends or annoy your date with fun wine facts, brought to you by Chip Roame, CEO of Tiburon Strategies. By the way, the date chat strategy might be a sound one if your partner is a woman. We’ll find out why in Fun Fact No. 6.

1. There are 21,150 wineries worldwide

If you’re wandering around the wine store, baffled by the selection, be comforted in the knowledge that there could be a whole lot more variety on the shelves. The number of wineries has increased about 36% over the past decade, up from 13,500 in 2011.

Here is an extra fun fact: Even though the number of wineries is increasing, the number of planted acres has been dropping.

2. 2.7 billion cases of wine are produced worldwide.

That is a lot of wine, but it is down from the peak in 2018, which was 3.3 billion. And if you’re thinking that people did a whole lot more drinking last year, you would be correct, but spirits have grown in popularity as well.

“I think you're seeing some challenges of the wine industry from both spirits and cannabis,” Roame said in a webinar on Thursday.

3. Italy is the largest producer in the world

Italy is the leading producer by a wide margin, with the United States trailing at No. 4. And although France is No. 3 on the list, it makes up for it with quality, at least measuring by sticker price. Another fun fact: Although the U.S. is the fourth largest producer, it is the eighth largest exporter and third largest importer. Europe is the by far the largest producer, making three-quarters of the world’s wine.

Bonus fact: Italy manages to be the top producer on less land with the fourth largest number of acres planted. And even though China is No. 3 in acres planted, it is mostly a domestic market, neither importing or exporting a great deal, relative to its size.

4. The U.S. is the world’s largest wine consumer.

Americans are No. 1 by far in wine consumption. (Meanwhile, the Chinese have been decreasing consumption precipitously over the past several years.)

5. Red is winning palate share, but white wine might be edging back in.

’Twas a time when white wines reigned but reds took the crown for palate share. White was dominant in the 1990s, accounting for more than 80%, before reds clawed back share to a bit more than 50%. Roame said whites were trending up a little the past few years though.

6. Women love wine.

A majority of wine consumers, 59%, are women.

“Women drink a little bit more than half,” Roame said. “That's not true for spirits. That's not true for beer. So you need to focus on the women's market when you're talking about wine.”

7. Every state has at least one winery but California makes almost all of the wine.

The United States has more than 11,000 wineries, with more than half of them outside California. But California still dominates production, bottling 666 million gallons of the nation’s 786 million gallons of wine annually.

8. Millennials are not so into the grape.

As perhaps fitting for the boomer-spurning crowd, millennials are not accepting the passing of the stemmed glass from the preceding generations.

“Millennials are emerging very, very slowly,” Roame said.
Bonus: Did a movie kill merlot?

Merlot boomed in popularity over the 1990s into the 2000s, starting with 15,000 tons of merlot grapes produced in California and booming to 186,000 tons by 2005, and plummeting thereafter.

What happened? Did the hit movie Sideways have something to do with it?

When Sideways was released in 2004, it included this famous exchange:
Jack: “If they want to drink merlot, we’re drinking merlot.”
Miles: “No! If anyone orders a merlot, I’m leaving! I am NOT drinking [expletive] merlot!”

Did the bloom fade from the grape after Paul Giamatti so expertly spat out that line? It just might have.

Steven A. Morelli is a contributing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. He has more than 25 years of experience as a reporter and editor for newspapers and magazines. He was also vice president of communications for an insurance agents’ association. Steve can be reached at [email protected].