I was introduced to FirstLeaf from one of the company’s PR people. She shared her company’s wine statistics and asked me if I’d be interested in sharing them in an upcoming blog. I love statistics, so I said yes.
About FirstLeaf
This company claims to offer the most personalized wine club in the world. They say that they “analyze hundreds of wines and billions of data points for every individual profile.” Wow. That’s impressive. As a wine consultant for WineShop At Home, I’m always selling WineShop At Home’s wine club. But hey, if I weren’t so dedicated to our wine club, I might be tempted to try FirstLeaf’s.
So What Are FirstLeaf’s Wine Statistics All About?
The subheading of their article is “The latest data on worldwide and US wine production, wine sales, wine consumption, wineries, and the wine industry during the coronavirus pandemic.” But it looks like all of their data is from 2019, so I’m not sure why they talk about the pandemic.
I did find a lot of good wine statistics in their article. I will highlight what I consider to be some of the most interesting below.
Wine Production
FirstLeaf uses 2019 data from International Organisation of Vine and Wine for their report. According to their article, the top wine-producing countries in the world are Italy (1.255 million gallons), France (1.112 million gallons), and Spain (886 million gallons). The United States is in fourth place, producing about half as much wine (642 million gallons) as first place Italy. The United States is followed by Argentina, Australia, Chile, South Africa, Germany and China.
Wine Consumption
Here, the United States leads the pack. Go USA!
Top Wine Drinking Countries Per Capita
When you factor in population, the United States falls to the 21st spot on the list. Portugal is in the lead. Way to go, Portugal!
Drilling Down into the United States Numbers
These numbers are really interesting to look at.
| Production (cases of wine) | Consumption (gallons of wine) | Per-person consumption (gallons of wine) | |
| California | 287 million (1) | 155,591 (1) | .616 (6) |
| Washington | 15.4 million (2) | ||
| New York | 12 million (3) | 65,759 (3) | |
| Oregon | 4.6 million (4) | .578 (10) | |
| Texas | 1.8 million (5) | ||
| Michigan | 1.3 million (6) | 25,903 (10) | |
| Illinois | 1 million (7) | 36,981 (4) | |
| North Carolina | 1 million (8) | 30,159 (6) | |
| Pennsylvania | .95 million (9) | 27,721 (8) | |
| Virginia | .95 million (10) | 26,950 (9) | |
| Florida | 72,669 (2) | ||
| New Jersey | 33,015 (5) | ||
| Massachusetts | 28,859 (7) | .635 (5) | |
| Idaho | 1,209 (1) | ||
| New Hampshire | .841 (2) | ||
| Vermont | .777 (3) | ||
| Delaware | .717 (4) | ||
| Nevada | .605 (7) | ||
| Connecticut | .595 (8) | ||
| Hawaii | .587 (9) |
My Summary of the U.S Wine Statistics
- Getting the best of it statewide: Florida, New Jersey and Massachusetts are big drinkers statewide who don’t seem to contribute much to the cause.
- Getting the best of it individually: Idaho, New Hamsphire, Vermont, Delaware, Nevada, Connecticut and Hawaii are big drinkers individually who don’t contribute much to the cause.
- Getting the worst of it: Washington and Texas are big contributors who don’t consume enough statewide to warrant their contributions. Oregon likewise doesn’t consume enough statewide but sneaks in on the individual consumption front.
But I’m sure with enough wine is passed around in enough states to make everybody happy. 😍
Cheers!
2 comments
You should expand your business to Portugal!
OMG, I would love that.