Almost Three in Five Americans Are Wine Buyers

A new survey from The Harris Poll® finds that almost six in ten Americans (58%) are wine buyers while 39% say they never buy a bottle of wine. Also, those who are wine drinkers1 are buying wine slightly more frequently than they were five years ago. In 2004, almost three-quarters of wine drinkers (73%) bought a bottle of wine once a month or less often while 3% bought one twice a week or more often. There has been a small shift as two-thirds of wine drinkers (67%) are buying a bottle once a month or less often while 8% are buying one twice a week or more often. When it comes to drinking wine, just over half of wine drinkers (54%) say they drink wine once a month or less often while 18% drink two or three times a month, 7% drink once a week and one in five (20%) drink twice a week or more often.

These are some of the findings of a nationwide Harris Poll of 1,475 U.S. adults aged 21 and over who buy or drink wine, which were surveyed online by Harris Interactive® between December 9 and December 15, 2008.

Which countries’ wines do people drink?

More Americans are consuming wines from Australia, Chile, Argentina and South Africa and less people are drinking French and Italian wines. However, nine out of ten American wine buyers and drinkers (90%) drink or buy wine from the United States, with almost the same number as in 2004 (91%). Next on the list of countries where people do buy or drink wine from are: Italy (37%, down from 44%); Australia (37% up from 32%); France (34% down from 40%); Germany (22%, almost unchanged from 23%); Spain (22% and new this year); and Chile (20% up from 16%).

Which countries’ wines would people consider buying?

The survey has some good news for wine producing countries. Many people who aren’t buying wines from other countries right now are willing to consider wines from these countries. For example, while just 37% of American wine drinkers are buying Italian wines, 61% would consider buying them. For some of the countries further down on the current wine buying list, this is even better news. People may not be drinking wine from the lesser known wine producing countries, but more would consider it:

Turkey – 1% currently buying/drinking; 18% would consider,
Poland – 1% buying/drinking; 19% would consider,
Israel – 4% buying/drinking; 24% would consider,
Greece – 4% buying/drinking; 28% would consider,
Portugal – 8% buying/drinking; 32% would consider, and
New Zealand – 12% buying/drinking; 33% would consider.

How much do Americans pay for a bottle of wine?

One thing that has remained consistent in the past four years is the amount of money that American wine buyers are spending on a bottle of wine. Just over one-quarter of wine buyers (27%) spent less than $10 on their last bottle while three in ten (30%) spent between $10 and $14. Just under one-quarter spent between $15 and $19 on their last bottle while one in five (20%) spent over $20. When it comes to spending a lot on a bottle, over one-third of wine buyers (37%) say they have spent $30 or more on a bottle of wine.

So What?

Even in hard economic times (and maybe more so because of them) Americans are still buying and drinking wine, both from the U.S. and from other countries. Many wine drinkers, just like they were four years ago, are interested in wines from other countries, but haven’t made the leap into purchasing them yet. These wine producing countries, with a little more marketing, need to let American wine purchasers know they are out there and showcase the types of wines they offer. In these tough times, if they can make a case for being more affordable than wines from other countries, that might also help spur their sales.

Methodology

This Harris Poll® was conducted online within the United States between December 9 and 15, 2008, among 1,475 adults (aged 21 and over) who buy or drink wine, a sub -sample of a larger sample of 2,388 adults, of whom 1,348 say they or someone in their household buys wine, and 1,340 say they drink wine. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online. Full data tables and methodology are available at www.harrisinteractive.com.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

Harris Interactive Inc. 2/09

1 “Wine drinkers” defined as U.S. adults aged 21 and over who buy or drink wine.

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Harris Interactive
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