Drinkers Prefer Cheaper Wines
Cheap wines were drinkers' choice in 2009
Filed in: Dining, Food, Groceries, Home and Garden, Kitchen, San Francisco, Wine
Americans are drinking more wine these days, but they're shunning the high-priced stuff and happily quaffing the budget wines instead.Recordnet.com says cheap imports from traditional and New World producers are squeezing the small and mid-sized California vintners. The big commerical U.S. producers are having an easier time of it but they're warily eyeing the surge in bulk wine imports.
"The U.S. wine market continued to grow in 2009 despite the economic downturn, with total shipments rising by 2 percent. But only the largest wineries benefited from those gains, industry experts said Wednesday.Recession-stung consumers shied away from restaurants and shifted to lower-priced vintages, leaving high-priced boutique wineries gasping for sales. Some wine distributors streamlined their operations, focusing on the largest suppliers..."
