Vintage Economics
Market Research and Analytics for a New Era in Wine
About Vintage Economics
The wine industry is currently facing an array of disruptive challenges, ranging from demographic change to distributor consolidation, that pose both opportunities and threats to wine-related businesses. Success in today’s rapidly evolving and hyper-competitive market environment demands a more systematic and strategic approach than ever before, informed by relevant data, rigorous analysis, and creative and critical thinking.
The mission of Vintage Economics, founded by Dr. Chris Bitter, is to provide insightful market research and analytics that enable clients to identify opportunities, make better informed business decisions, and position themselves for success in the new era for wine.
Based in Carmel California, Vintage Economics offers research and advisory services focused on market analysis, strategic studies and data analytics. The firm also produces research reports and provides customized metrics and intelligence on the U.S. and Canadian markets. Selected clients include the Washington State Wine Commission, Aquilini Brands, Wineshipping.com, and Fall Line Capital.
See Dr. Bitter's blog for commentary on topics of local, national and global interest. Please contact Chris for additional information, to arrange a consultation, or to inquire about speaking engagements.
Research and Analytics
Market Analysis and Forecasting
Data Analytics
Geodemographic Targeting
Strategic Studies
Reports and Data
Analysis, insights and intelligence to support better-informed decisions
Demographics and Wine
Published December 2021
Demographics are crucially important to wineries and the wine trade. But relevant data are hard to find and often incomplete and conflicting. Demographics and Wine provides the most comprehensive and nuanced information and analysis on U.S. wine consumer demographics available.
Demographics play a vital role in shaping the propensity to buy wine – and some groups are far more impactful than others – particularly in the upper tiers of the market. Demographics and Wine clarifies the audience for wine and provides insights into consumer behavior to inform segmentation, customer targeting, and marketing strategy.
The U.S. is also undergoing a profound demographic transition that is altering the composition of the wine consumer base and creating potential headwinds for wine demand. The report highlights the opportunities and threats associated with demographic change and their implications for strategic planning and marketing.
The report is based on analysis of public use micro data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditures Survey, which collects two-week spending diaries from approximately 6,000 households per year. Households are segmented by age, income, education, race/ethnicity, sex, and generation. The new edition of Demographics and Wine, published December 2021, includes data through 2020.
Click here for a detailed description of the content.
Regular price: $895. Discounted small business / nonprofit price: $595.
Use the online store to purchase by credit card. If you would prefer to pay by check, please call 206-981-6885.
The Washington Winery Report
Published May 2021
The Washington Winery Report is an annual publication that provides shipment and production totals for the past year for all 1000+ Washington winery licenses as well as more extensive metrics for wineries that shipped at least 1,000 cases, including shipments broken down by sales channel and three years of historic data on total shipments and net production. It also contains industry statistics and winery rankings.
The report represents the most comprehensive source of intelligence available on Washington wineries and wine shipment trends. The metrics will be valuable to wineries for benchmarking performance, growers and service providers for generating new business leads, and others seeking insight into the Washington wine industry more generally. Click here for a sample of the report.
Regular Price: $595. Small Business Price: $395.
Use the online store to purchase by credit card. If you would prefer to pay by check, please call 206-981-6885.
California Grape Market Data
Available Upon Request
The California Grape Crush Report is an indispensable source of information on the state’s grape markets. However, the report provides only a narrow set of metrics, which limit its usefulness for market analysis. For example, the weighted average prices it presents are heavily biased toward large contracts and have little relevance for “boutique” segment of the market. Moreover, the annual report includes only one-year comparisons, making it difficult and time consuming to situate pricing and crush trends within a longer-term context.
Vintage Economics has developed a broader range of proprietary metrics based on the crush report data, including pricing benchmarks and price indexes segmented by contract size, and more than twenty years of historical data. They enable clients to gain a more nuanced understanding of grape pricing and market trends by varietal and district and support better informed decisions. Click here to view sample metrics. Please contact Chris Bitter with questions or to purchase metrics.
Washington Wine Industry Intelligence
Available Upon Request
Leveraging its proprietary databases and industry contacts, Vintage Economics supplies customized metrics and intelligence on the Washington wine industry including:
Applications include winery performance benchmarking; targeting customers for grapes, services or equipment sales; identifying and evaluating acquisition targets; or tracking industry performance trends.
Click here to download a winery metrics sample.
U.S. Wine & BevAlc Imports & Exports
Available Upon Request
Our comprehensive and timely metrics on U.S. wine import and export trends enable clients to better understand import demand and competition, monitor the performance of individual countries within the U.S. marketplace, and evaluate potential export opportunities.
Canadian Wine & BevAlc Imports & Exports
Available Upon Request
Canada ranks 8th globally in wine imports, and imported wines (including bulk shipments bottled in Canada) comprise 85% of the market. The metrics can be broken down by country of origin as well destination province to provide a nuanced view of Canadian wine market trends.
Contact Vintage Economics
The purchaser agrees to only share the report with employees, board members, and consultants working on projects specific to them. The purchaser may extract elements of the report for use in internal and external presentations, subject to the doctrine of fair use, provided that Vintage Economics is identified as the source. © 2021 Vintage Economics