The California Wine Institute was so excited with the growth in the value and size of shipments that it announced the achievement Wednesday, instead of waiting to release the full 2011 year-end statistics later this year according to a report in the LA Times.
The main markets of expansion have been Hong Kong, Japan and China. Sales to third-place Hong Kong jumped by 48.4%, fourth-place Japan by 42.3%, and fifth-place China by 38.3%.
European Union continued to rank first in consumption of U.S. and California wine. Exports to the 27-country bloc grew by only 10.1% from 2010 to 2011 whereas the second-ranking Canada increased its imports from the US by 24.4%.
California is the fourth-biggest wine producer in the world but accounts for only 4% of the world wine market, a situation that provides Golden State wineries with ample room for expansion in competing with more established growers in France, Italy and Spain.
France and Italy are the leading exporters to India with Australia and Chile falling closely behind Italy. The US currently has around 8-10% share of the 220,000 case imported wine market with France leading at around 37-40% share.
However, with recent visits by Washington State Wines, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and the iconic Bill Harlan of Harlan Estate in Napa California, being but some of the power houses representing the three states last year, it looks like the US is getting ready to get more and more Indians taste wines from different states. |