2011-2012 State of the Wine Industry Report

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The wine industry is poised to benefit from an improving economy – and fine wine sales are forecasted to grow by 11-15 percent year over year – concludes Silicon Valley Bank's latest annual wine industry report.

Authored by Rob McMillan, founder of SVB's Wine Division, the report is based on SVB's in-depth survey of nearly 600 wine industry experts and insiders, third-party research, and SVB's unique perspective as a long-time observer of the wine industry. The report captures trends and addresses critical issues facing the U.S. wine industry, offering unique data and observations that help wine business owners and managers think critically about their strategies.

Among the findings:

• Inventory is in closer balance than many believe
• Affluents dominate the purchase of fine wine, but improving economic conditions for restaurants and the middle class will help long term
• Growth is being led by Gen X and Boomers, not Millennials at this stage.
• Overall, wine industry sales, profits and gross margins bottomed in 2009 and were up in 2010 marking the bottom for producers
• Wineries lag in the adoption of CRM and other digital sales best practices

(PDF)