FUN WITH FACTOIDS ©

            In case you were wondering, there is a lot of wine and winery growth going on all over the country. The gorilla in this room is Gallo. In 2014 the 70 brands that make up their portfolio saw 80M cases sold. Many to people who have no idea their fave beverage is a Gallo product. The company has always shown smart and aggressive marketing skills. But the current success is partly due to taking the pulse of those seeking value for every day consumption and responding to it. From a quality and flavor standpoint, some of these products are very attractive to the general public. Gallo has also trended a bit to the upscale market, including the recent acquisition of the J label sparkling wine.

            Also growing are the number of virtual wineries. Not of the video game universe, these are labels that represent winemakers who operate under the umbrella of another brands bonded premise. This is a method that has attractive features for small volume wines. They avoid the hassle and expense of having a government bond for the storage facility and can spare themselves the high capital demands of seldom used (but expensive) equipment. It is a win for the bonded winery as well, which can charge for the use and get revenue from such things as available empty tankage, bottling line and warehouse space.

Virtual wineries make up 18% of the U.S. producers but more than 1/3rd of those in California. The total number of wineries (including non-grape producers) grew by about 7% last year depending on various data sources. With California boasting nearly four thousand wineries now the state is home to 47% of those in the entire country. Add the over 1,300 in Washington and Oregon and you see the effect the industry has on the west coast. With 525 new wineries opening last year, the total number in the U.S, is now 8,287.

There are wineries in every state in the union. Texas is now 6th with 215 and Hawaii, with 4, is ahead of last place Mississippi which has only 2. Bet you wouldn't have thought Alaska is at #45 with six. Arizona and New Mexico both have 48 bonded wineries. But those clever virtual guys and gals have 15 in AZ and there are zero in NM.

One last fact; in the annual list of Ten Hot Brands as published by Wine Business Monthly, the Central Coast took one-fifth of this year's listing. These were Paso based Halter Ranch and Monterey County's McIntyre. Congrats!

            I should mention that the eleven sub viticultural areas now in the Paso Robles AVA are now label legal. However, you are not going to see many of them on store shelves for a couple of years. Most wineries are holding off until the 2015 vintage is in bottle and some are going even more slowly. More on this can be found in an archived article.