Take an extra sip of wine this week, because, in case you didn’t know, September is “Wine Appreciation Month” in North Carolina. According to the state’s tourism department, there are plenty of reasons to raise a glass.
Governor Bev Perdue’s office just released some data highlighting how much the NC wine industry has grown in the last few years. According to the most recent numbers (from 2009), wine is a $1.28 BILLION dollar industry in North Carolina alone, directly and indirectly supporting about 7,600 jobs. About 1,900 of those jobs came around in the last five years as the industry grew by about 58%.
What’s nice for those of us who visit the wineries is that there are twice as many places to go. Most of them are owned by families or friends: people who share a passion for the fruits of their labor. And just like in Field Of Dreams, “if you build it they will come:” the number of “wine tourists” (a.k.a. Kate and I) has grown from 800,000 in 2005 to 1,255,000 in 2009.
Despite the growth, North Carolina and most of the country remains in California’s shadow. Industry analysts Frank, Rimerman + Co. crunched the numbers: the Tarheel state produces about 1.26 million gallons of wine each year (#9 in the nation). California makes about 500 million (85% of American wine). For those keeping score at home, Texas produces about 2.5 million gallons (#4 nationally).
North Carolina wineries have plenty to work on: namely increasing retail revenue. Only a handful of NC wines are available at the grocery store because state law requires the product to go through a distributor, which can affect the bottom line of a small independent vineyard. In my opinion, there needs to be an effort to get smaller wineries distributed farther, encouraging more growth.
Cheers!
-KK
P.S. It is harvest time right now for several wineries. My co-worker, Veronica White did astory about the harvest at Divine Llama in East Bend – they said the dry weather we saw in September will make for a good harvest.
Great post! Thanks for sharing all the important data surrounding our wine industry here in NC. Would love to re-post this on my website: http://www.ncvineyards.com under the “Magazine” section. Please let me know if that is ok.
Red Wine Diva
Of course – thanks for reaching out!