The Context for Marketing Strategies: A Look at the U.S. Wine Market

Abstract

The wine industry is too complex for simple generalizations to contribute much to marketing strategies. The purpose of this chapter is to examine this complexity and derive from it useful ideas for decision making. The first part presents a historical perspective on what wine was and what it is today. The succeeding sections examine the new wine culture, the renaissance of the 1990s, and major wine market trends. The conclusion focuses on the future. Attention is focused primarily on the United States, although some of the marketing lessons are applicable to other markets. The data reported in this chapter are from the Gomberg-Fredrikson Report, company estimates, and data derived from Nielsen WineScan reports, the California Board of Equalization, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Wine Institute, and other sources.