Wineries Continue to Proliferate

In spite of a weak economy, the number of wineries in North America grew to 7,834 in 2011, according to WinesVinesDATA, the research arm of Wines & Vines magazine. Publisher Chet Klingensmith released the count at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium on Tuesday, the same day the magazine’s annual Directory & Buyer’s Guide went on sale.

WinesVinesDATA identified 7,345 wineries now operating in the United States, an increase of 450 wineries or 6% from a year ago. Canadian wineries now number 465, up 17%, and Mexico is home to 24 wineries, for a North American total of 7,834.

California continues to count the most wineries in North America, with 196 new wineries, bringing the total to 3,519. Most of the large-production wineries are in California, which continues to bottle more than 90% of the nation’s wine. However, less than half of North American wineries are in California.

Each state has at least two wineries, and fully 16 states and two Canadian provinces (British Columbia and Ontario) have more than 100 wineries. The top six states for wineries are: California, Washington, Oregon, New York, Virginia and Texas. In Canada, British Columbia has 230 wineries and Ontario has 138.

WinesVinesDATA conducts the winery count continually throughout the year, as just one aspect of the exhaustive market research offered in the Wines & Vines Directory/Buyer’s Guide, the Online Marketing System, the Flash Report, the DtC Shipment Model and other proprietary wine industry research.

The Wine Directory/Buyer’s Guide for 2012 includes more than 850 pages and is available in print and online as a key reference for buying and selling. It contains accurate, comprehensive listings of wineries and vineyards, industry suppliers and industry personnel including job titles, phone numbers, winery production size, varietals made and much more information. The directory is available in digital and/or print format and costs $95 at winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=subscribe.

For more information about the growth of the North American wine industry, contact publisher Chet Klingensmith at chet@winesandvines.com or 415-453-9700, ext., 111 or editor Jim Gordon at jim@winesandvines.com or 415-453-9700, ext., 108.

For access to the full report, visit winesandvines.com.