Reds Overtake Whites as California Wine Shipments Post Gain in 2004

Americans bought more wine last year, good news for California vintners who distributed an estimated $15 billion of wine to the domestic market.

Last year also turned out to a very good year for reds. They edged out white wines by volume for the first time in at least two decades in supermarkets.

Overall, California wineries shipped 428 million gallons to U.S. markets in 2004, a 3% increase from 2003, according to the Gomberg-Fredrikson report compiled by wine analyst Jon Fredrikson.

Experts attributed the trend to a number of factors including a recovering economy, increased wine consumption and good reviews for California vintages.

“The market’s rebounding in a big way,” said Gladys Horiuchi, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco-based Wine Institute, which released the sales figures Tuesday.

As in previous years, super-value wines such as the Charles Shaw label that is known as Two Buck Chuck continued to sell well, making up 12% of California table wine shipments to the state’s home market.

Reds edged whites, according to ACNielsen sales data from supermarkets, liquor stores and drugstores. Red wines had a 40.5% market share, compared with 40.4% for whites and just over 19% for blush wines.

Reds ruled in the 1970s but were eclipsed by whites in the ‘80s, Horiuchi said. In 1991, reds had a 17% share of the market, compared with 49% for whites, according to ACNielsen data.

Smiley theorized that reds could be reaping the benefits of reported health benefits or perhaps enjoying some snob value as the perceived drink of discriminating palates.