DAN'S WINE BLOG-FACTS & FIGURES

Friday, March 31, 2023

?This week is about some of the facts & figures of the wine world which may be of interest to you.

?USA:?The USA currently has 11,961 wineries (Australia approx. 2,470), with wine being made in all 50 states – Yep! Even in Hawaii and Alaska, plus in Washington, D.C., there are two wineries. The biggest wine producing state by a country mile is California with 4,973 wineries – roughly twice as many as all of Australia. In a distant second place is Oregon with 908, and then Washington State hot on its heels with 906.

?Undergoing very rapid growth is Texas with 519 wineries, having leap-frogged New York State with 453, whose Finger Lake wine region has been around for well over 100 years. Finger Lakes is the spiritual home of Saperavi in the USA, with some superb wines being produced there, along with some excellent Riesling.

?Speaking of California despite their claim to growing diversity check out the AAWE new plantings chart below – not exactly “walking away” from their mainstream varieties are they?

?GERMANY:?For any global warming sceptics still out there, the AAWE chart below shows how the German winegrowing landscape has changed in two decades. In 1999, red wine grapes made up 31% of all German wines, whilst a mere 20 years later they accounted for 50%. This change is due to regions warming up, thus making red grape growing possible in areas where it was not viable before, rather than consumer preference change, as there is almost no end of affordable imported red wine available in Germany.

?In the whites, traditional varieties Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner have fallen significantly out of favour while the “international” varieties, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc, have more than doubled in acreage. Pinot Blanc is also growing quite rapidly (from a very small base) here in Australia.

?AUSSIE EXPORTS:?The AAWE chart below shows our wine exports in litres for 2021 ranked by variety. The unspecified at #4 will be dry white and dry red bulk exports. I am somewhat surprised that Prosecco isn’t higher up the list.

?TEMPRANILLO:?Wow, imagine that! ?We grow more Tempranillo than what the French do these days. Tempranillo has been absolutely booming here in Australia with over 400 wineries now growing the variety and their numbers are still rising. It is/has migrated from being an emerging variety to being a mainstream variety.

?Well that’s probably enough facts & figures for one week so I will say “arrivederci” till next week.

Stay safe and #chooseaustralianwine to enjoy and when possible try #emergingvarieties.?Cheers, Dan T.