新澳门六合彩内幕信息

California wine leaders adapting to drought and consumer shifts, surveys find

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bottle on its side and wine in glasses
As the baby boomers ‘pass the glass’ to the millennial generation, there will be trade-offs in consumption.

California wine will hold its own in the global market despite shifts in consumer demographics, scarce water, and competition from imported wines, craft beers and cocktails, according to wine industry leaders surveyed by the University of California, Davis.

Findings from the tandem surveys of wine executives and industry professionals will be presented at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23, during the Wine Industry Financial Symposium at the Napa Valley Marriott in Napa, California.

At 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, Brennaman says they recycle rainwater:

鈥淲ine industry leaders are keenly aware that this is a time of great change for California wineries and related business,鈥 said Robert Smiley, professor and dean emeritus of the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Graduate School of Management.

鈥淎s the baby boomers 鈥榩ass the glass鈥 to the millennial generation, there will be trade-offs in consumption, but the industry professionals surveyed indicate that they are prepared to meet these and other challenges by adjusting their brand composition, adapting new technologies and becoming more efficient in their use of water,鈥 he said. 

Survey of wine executives

Smiley gathered the opinions and projections from the heads of 26 wineries for this 13th annual wine executives survey. About 60 percent of those wineries are located in the Napa or Sonoma valleys, while most of the others are in the Central Coast and North Coast regions, and in California鈥檚 northern interior, Central Valley and Sierra foothills. One winery is in Washington.

Wine consumption by baby boomers is declining and will continue to do so as that group ages, but consumption by the millennial generation is expected to steadily increase, the wine executives reported.

鈥淲e find that the millennials are fabulous,鈥 said one respondent. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e adopting wine at a faster pace, and they鈥檙e a different type of consumer than we鈥檝e seen in the past.  How to reach millennials, how to engage them and build brand loyalty with them is 鈥 more complicated than with the boomers.鈥

Millennials are bringing a new interest in craft beer and cocktails, survey participants said. Many respondents suggested that the wine industry must pay close attention to those two competitive trends in the beverage business but seemed confident that the wine industry would eventually benefit from them.

鈥淚鈥檓 thinking craft beer actually expands the market for us and offers an opportunity for millennial exploration and entry into the market, which then will progress up to wine,鈥 said one wine executive.

International wine competition

Competition in the domestic wine market from imported international wines will increase, most respondents said. The industry should plan accordingly by increasing promotional efforts through local trade organizations, paying greater attention to wine quality and value, and better communicating those benefits to consumers to maintain brand loyalty, they said.

Climate change and water

Climate change and water scarcity were also on the wine executives鈥 minds, many of them listing these among the industry鈥檚 top issues over the next five to 10 years.

They said that they are already implementing a number of strategies including using imaging technology to minimize vineyard water use, recycling winery water for use in vineyard irrigation, and changing winery equipment and procedures to use water more efficiently.

One survey respondent advised keeping an eye on innovative water recycling systems at the teaching and research winery in 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis鈥 Department of Viticulture and Enology. The campus winery is designed to capture and reuse 90 percent of the winery鈥檚 processing water, eventually using that water as many as 10 times.

Chik Brennaman is the winery manager and winemaker for the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology. He says it takes a lot of water to make wine:

At 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, Brennaman says they recycle rainwater:

Survey of wine professionals

Smiley鈥檚 survey of California wine professionals, now in its 23rd year, probed the opinions of 122 wine industry leaders. Most of the respondents to that survey represent wine companies; others are from operations including wineries, grape-growing and wine-distribution firms, and financial institutions.

Respondents reported that the rebounding economy will have the greatest positive influence on California wine sales during the next three years, followed by increased direct sales to consumers, a larger consumer base and a trend toward high-end wine sales.

Most of these professionals agreed that their business plans are placing a greater emphasis on direct sales to consumers, raising wine prices and investing in technology. Social media is increasingly playing an important role in their businesses, with Facebook and Twitter seen as most valuable.

Over the next three years the strongest white varietals will be chardonnay followed by sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio, and the strongest red varietals will be cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir and red blends, they predict. Wines in the $14- to $20-per-bottle range will show the strongest sales.

About the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Graduate School of Management

Dedicated to preparing innovative leaders for global impact, the is consistently ranked among the premier business schools in the United States and internationally. The school鈥檚 faculty members are globally renowned for their teaching excellence and pioneering research in advancing management thinking and best practices. With prime locations in Northern California鈥檚 economic hubs, the school provides a bold, innovative approach to management education to full-time MBA students and Master of Professional Accountancy students at the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis campus, and part-time MBA students in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area.

For the past 15 years, the Graduate School of Management and Department of Viticulture and Enology have partnered on the , an executive education program that blends the business and science of winemaking. The next program will be held March 22-27, 2015, at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis.

新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis is growing California

At 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, we and our partners are nourishing our state with food, economic activity and better health, playing a key part in the state鈥檚 role as the top national agricultural producer for more than 50 years. 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis is participating in 新澳门六合彩内幕信息鈥檚 Global Food Initiative launched by 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 President Janet Napolitano, harnessing the collective power of 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 to help feed the world and steer it on the path to sustainability.

Media Resources

Pat Bailey, Research news (emphasis: agricultural and nutritional sciences, and veterinary medicine), 530-219-9640, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu

Robert Smiley, Graduate School of Management, 530-304-1048, rhsmiley@ucdavis.edu

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