Oregon wine sales broke $600 million last year, while the value of Oregon’s wine grape crop topped the $200 million mark for the first time last year, according to a new report.
The Oregon Wine Board's newly released 2018 Oregon Vineyard and Winery Report, with analysis conducted by the University of Oregon's Institute for Policy Research and Engagement, shows across-the-board increases in sales, number of wineries and acreage planted.
Oregon wine sales expanded to $607 million in 2018 from $550 million in 2017. The increase was driven by a 19% increase in direct-to-consumer shipments, according to the Sovos/Wines Vines Analytics 2019 Direct to Consumer Wine Shipping Report.
Global demand for Oregon wines remained high in 2018. Canadians purchased 47,338 cases of Oregon wine in 2018, representing 45% of Oregon’s export sales. Impressive growth was seen in Scandinavian markets, with a 59% increase in wines exported to Denmark, and Asia, with 15,258 cases of Oregon wine shipped. Exports to Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and other Asian destinations also increased in 2018.
Oregon had 793 wineries at the end of 2018, an increase of 24 from the previous year. Most of the growth came in the south Willamette Valley, where 16 new wineries came online in 2018.
The number of acres planted to grapes went from 33,996 acres in 2017 to 35,972 acres in 2018, an increase of approximately 6%. The most substantial increases in acres planted were in the Rogue and Umpqua valleys.
Pinot noir, which represents 56% of all planted acreage in Oregon, grew by 5% in 2018.
Perhaps the biggest surprises were merlot and cabernet sauvignon, which increased in acreage by 26% and 25%, respectively, in 2018. Albariño, gamay and viognier plantings made it from the "miscellaneous" category to the report's acreage charts for the first time.
Jim Bernau, the founder and winegrower at Willamette Valley Vineyards in Turner, thinks he knows the reason the Oregon wine industry is surging. "Oregon's on fire right now because people recognize our quality," Bernau says. "If you look at the Nielsen data, Oregon is number one right now."
The Nielsen Co. collects data from scanned sales in U.S. retail stores. According to an Oregon Wine Board press release, recent Nielsen data shows Oregon wine sales rose 12% in 2018, compared to the total table wine category's performance of -0.6%.
The complete report is available on the Oregon Wine Board website, along with reports dating back to 2005: industry.oregonwine.org.
Michael Alberty writes about wine for The Oregonian/OregonLive. He can be reached at malberty0@gmail.com. To read more of his coverage, go to oregonlive.com/wine.