All Aboard the Great American Wine Train!

U.S. Per Capita Wine Consumption Picks Up Speed   

Though wine drinkers now outnumber beer drinkers for the first time in U.S. history, winemakers take heed: our wine train has been very slow to leave the station and lags far behind other countries.

1934: the year after Prohibition, just 0.26 gallons of wine were consumed per American.
1946: Consumption jumped to 1.00 gallons – but dropped back to 0.67 gallons the next year!
1967: Twenty-one years later, it reached 1 gallon again —1.03 gallons of wine per American. Maybe thank the hippies for that.
1980: We topped the 2 gallon mark at 2.11. During the decade, Americans went wild with 2.43 gallons of wine per year, but by 1989, dropped back down to the starting point, 2.11!
1990-1999: In 1990, we were each drinking 2.05 gallons, but kept drinking less through most of the decade. 1999 saw us drop to 2.02 gals.
2000 – 2004 The new century saw a steady uptick in wine consumption—in 2005, at 2.37 gallons. Still not as high as 1985, 1986, or 1987—but chugging along.
2005 – We break the 3 gallon barrier weighing in at 3.09 gallons. Maybe thank the “Millennials” for that, those 20-29-year-olds who have embraced wine enthusiastically.

Our Wine Train vs. Others   
U.S.                  3.09 gallons   
Italy:               16 gallons per capita
France:             14 gallons
Australia:           5+ gallons