The Grapevine

Wine Consumption Habits, More Impact’s Hot List: Argentine Wines

September 29th, 2014

More from the Impact Hot List via Shanken News Daily: Argentine wines are bouncing back. [level-members]

Argentine wine sales in the US were down in 2012, but rebounded in 2013, rising by about 5%. Malbec leads the way, unsurprisingly, with Alamos and Trapiche labels both growing strongly enough for Impact to tag them as “Hot Brands.”

Others to win that designation include Valentin Bianchi and New Age which offer reds and whites from $10 to $30 a bottle,  Tilia, Diseño, and Ruta 22.

In other news, the Wine Market Council published a report on “Consumer Consumption Habits Relevant to the 2014 Holiday Season.” Much of the report focuses on differences between “high frequency drinkers” (wine more than once a week) and “occasional wine drinkers” (who drink wine once a week or less.) Among the findings:

  • Most wine drinker respondents were married. However, High Frequency wine drinkers were significantly more likely to be married (63% vs. 48%) and Occasional wine drinkers more likely to be single or never married (26% vs. 14%).
  • The average annual household income of High Frequency wine drinkers was higher than that of Occasional wine drinkers ($82,900 vs. $64,600). Half of High Frequency wine consumers have annual household incomes of $75,000 or more (51%). By contrast, one-third of Occasional wine consumers reported this level of income (32%).
  • Additionally, the rate of home ownership was also higher among High Frequency wine consumers (81% vs. 66% of Occasional wine drinkers).
  • High Frequency wine drinkers skew older than occasional wine drinkers (average age of 51 vs. 44). Typically, Wine Market Council has focused on generations and their wine drinking habits, but the January study dove deeper. A look at the data by ten-year age brackets revealed that the High Frequency wine drinker pool included a larger proportion of both 60+ men (18% vs. 9% of the Occasional wine drinker pool) and 60+ women (18% vs. 11% of the Occasional wine drinker pool), while the Occasional wine drinker segment was made up of a larger proportion of young, 21 30 year old, women (15% vs. 5%).
  • Occasional wine drinkers skew female and younger. The average age of an Occasional wine drinker is 44 years old, compared to a High Frequency wine drinker whose average age is 51. Source: Wine Market Council High Frequency Tracking Study, 2013

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