North Bay Business Journal

The volume of California wine shipments to U.S. markets last year dipped for the first time in 11 years, but retail value of that wine rose by more than 8 percent for the second straight year, according to recently released figures.

Meanwhile, shipments of wine to the U.S. from all sources increased 2.4 percent, and retail value, 5.2 percent to new volume and sales records, according to data compiled by Woodside-based industry analysis firm Gomberg Fredrikson & Associates and San Francisco-based advocacy group Wine Institute.

SACRAMENTO — Shipments of wine to the U.S. hit another record last year, but growth slowed considerably from 2011 as producers turned to imports in a big way to try to meet demand, according to experts at a major industry symposium in Sacramento.

Sales of California wine within the U.S. in 2011 grew to a record 211.9 million cases, up 5.6 percent in volume compared to the previous year, according to preliminary figures released today by industry analysts.

Sales of California fine wine ended 2011 on the upswing, and vintner margins are improving, according to a recent industry survey and new data on California shipments.

The long-held place of France as the top market for wine in the world fell to the U.S. last year, according to data released today by wine industry consultants Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates.

SACRAMENTO — Sales of wine in restaurants are improving but will be challenging for the next five years amid a lasting consumer shift to “value,” but growers of grapes for ultrapremium-priced wines are facing higher costs than are covered by the increasing number of grape buyers, according to experts at a major wine industry conference in Sacramento today.

WINDSOR — Alexander Valley Cellars is centralizing its wine warehousing while tripling the size of its direct-to-consumer business in an expansion move to one of Sonoma County’s largest distribution warehouses.

NORTH COAST – Barring a worsened U.S. economy, the sales environment for North Coast fine wines could brighten further in 2011 after showings early signs of improvement this year.

WINDSOR – Alexander Valley Cellars is racking up more capacity to store, transport and ship wine as it has picked up a number of customers in the past year and is moving more wine out to the trade and consumers.

NORTH COAST — This year is shaping up to be another challenging one for the wine industry on the North Coast as signs of recovery in the U.S. economy and consumer spending slowly take hold, according to an economic report released today.

CALIFORNIA — Despite an economy in which some wineries’ revenues were off by double-digits last year, California winery shipments to U.S. markets were nearly unchanged in volume, according to industry analyst figures released today. Yet aggressive discounting of wines to maintain that volume resulted in revenue from those shipments dipping 3.2 percent to $17.9 billion.

SACRAMENTO — Large scale importation of bulk and bottled wine helped boost total U.S. shipments by an estimated 2.1 percent last year, but wineries heavily impacted by shifting consumer demand may have to wait until 2011 for significant market improvement, an expert said at a major industry symposium here this morning.