In 2021, the wine industry began to recover from an unusual and challenging year in 2020. Wine sales sharply improved from the previous year, when pandemic-related restaurant and bar closures spurred a precipitous decline in wineries’ sales at restaurants and tasting rooms.

• Wine sales improved around 10 percent in 2021, according to Wines Vines Analytics and bw166, and analysts expect demand for wine to remain healthy in 2022.
• Overall demand for wine grapes has improved, driven by a limited reopening of tourism, restaurant and event traffic.
• Many expect to see modest improvements in wine sales and grape values in 2022. Rising input prices from supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, drought, and general inflation may narrow margins for some operators.

As the economy was reopened in a limited fashion, wine sales began to improve in 2021. At the same time, wineries were able to capitalize on new sales outlets that were forged during the early pandemic era in the United States. Overall demand for wine grapes also improved in 2021. Vineyard values generally remained stable-to-improving, but the cost of developing new vineyard acres increased substantially. Most of the appreciation in costs are due to supply chain disruptions and shortages in materials such as steel, lumber, general construction materials, and the availability of labor and equipment.

Wine sales have bounced back from recent lows. Wines Vines Analytics and bw166 estimate that total U.S. wine sales in 2021 increased about 10 percent from 2020 and were slightly above 2019 sales on an inflation-adjusted basis.

Looking ahead, many in the industry expect that wine sales still have room to grow in 2022. For example, wine sales in 2021 did increase in total dollars, but fell short of the linear trend from 2015 to 2019. The dip below trend could mean that sales continue to grow as pandemic-related restrictions and bottlenecks continue to ease.

Wine Sales Improve in 2021

What led to the rebound in wine sales over the past year? Read More