California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

California global wine shipments dropped for the first time in 16 years during
2009, driven down by the worldwide recession.

The number was pulled down by a collapse in shipments to the U.K., California
wineries’ largest export market. They fell 36 percent as the economy, higher
import duties and currency swings made California wine more expensive.

And while consumption of wine is up 2.1% nationally, industry analyst Jon Fredrikson
told the audience at the annual Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento two
weeks ago that the American public is snubbing tonier bottles from the Golden State
and instead opting for cheaper bulk wine imports from overseas winemakers.

California wine shipments fell almost 4%, or by nearly 4 million cases of wine, for
the first 11 months of last year, Fredrikson said.

The bad news didn’t stop there for winemakers, imports of cheaper wine from Chile,
Australia and Argentina rose 87 percent to grab 32 percent of the U.S. market.

Does this bode well for the return of – ‘Two Buck Chuck’? 

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.