California/U.S. wine exports set $1.14B export record in 2010

U.S. wine exports, 90 percent of them from California, rebounded to a new record of $1.14 billion last year, according to the San Francisco-based Wine Institute. That was a healthy 25.6 percent over 2009’s paltry total.

Volume rose 1.9 percent to 425.5 million liters or 47.3 million nine-liter cases.

In 2009, in sharp contrast, U.S. wine exports fell 9.5 percent in value to $911.8 million in winery revenues, and volume shrank 14.9 percent to 417.9 million liters or 46.4 million nine-liter cases. The Institute, which represents approximately 1,000 California wineries and ancillary businesses, blamed the steep 2009 falloff on the worldwide economic doldrums.

Robert P. (Bobby) Koch, the Wine Institute’s president and CEO, said the trade group’s goal is to boost exports to $2 billion by 2020, which he calls an achievable goal, given last year’s rebound.

“California is the fourth largest wine producer in the world,” Koch said in a Feb. 22 statement. “Our continued work advocating for a level playing field in trade matters and the creative, long-term marketing investments by our wineries will enable us to reach our goal.”

Roughly 20 percent -- one bottle in five -- of the Golden State’s wine is sold in other countries.

Last year, 38 percent of U.S. wine exports by value were shipped to the 27-member countries of the European Union, accounting for $435 million of export revenue, up 14 percent from 2009. Volume shipments to the EU reached 27.6 million cases in 2010, up 11 percent from the previous year, the institute said.

Changes in the exchange rate, a gradually recovering U.S. economy and California’s “effective marketing and high wine quality” helped exports rebound, the group said. Other top markets were: Canada ($308 million); Hong Kong ($116 million); Japan ($76 million), and China ($45 million).

Hong Kong strengthened its position as the world’s third largest export market by value last year, growing nearly 150 percent compared to 2009.

Although the rate of growth of wine exports to China slowed last year, “we exported an additional $9.6 million to China in 2010. China continues to represent a significant opportunity for California wines as interest in our wines continues to spread out from the major hubs of Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou,” said Eric Pope, Wine Institute’s regional director, emerging markets.

Since 1985, Wine Institute has served as the administrator of the Market Access Program, an export promotion program managed by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.