The biggest

Cheers, April, 2005

The U.S., already the leading world market in wine sales, will become the world's leading consumer of wines by volume by 2008, according to the International Wine and Spirits Record (IWSR) in a report commissioned for the major international wine trade show Vinexpo.

According to the report, sales of table wines in the U.S. in 2003 were up 20.4% compared to 1999, and should increase by an additional 44.4% to reach $24.21 billion in 2008.

With 10.8 liters of wine drunk per adult, per year, average consumption of Americans is still low compared to European countries such as the UK (24 liters per adult per year) and Italy (60 liters per adult per year), according to the report. (Adams Beverage Media figures put U.S. per capita consumption of table wine slightly higher.)

Imported wines represented about a 25 percent market share in terms of volume in the US in 2003, but should see growth of around 54.5% between 1999 and 2008, the report said. Concurrently, consumption of American wines, which accounts for 75% of wine drunk in the U.S., should only progress by 20.1%.

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The report predicts that between 2003 and 2008, wines in the $5 to $10 retail price segment should increase the most ( 30%).

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The report also forecasts total consumption of spirits in the U.S. will grow nearly 10 percent between 2003 and 2007. Imported spirits, which total approximately 40% of the volume consumed, have benefited from faster growth than American spirits recently, but by 2008, this trend should have leveled out, with the two categories progressing at the same pace, according to IWSR.

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Vinexpo will welcome companies and trade professionals from nearly 40 countries from June 19th through 23rd in Bordeaux, France. The full exhibitors' list is regularly updated and can be seen at the Vinexpo website at www.vinexpo.com.

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