Sacramento, Calif.—In spite of a weak economy, the number of wineries in North America continued to grow in 2011. The latest tally by WinesVinesDATA, the research arm of Wines & Vines magazine, identified 7,345 wineries now operating in the United States, up by 450 wineries or 6% from a year ago. Canadian wineries now number 465, up 17%.

Wines & Vines publisher Chet Klingensmith released the count today at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, the industry’s largest trade show and conference, the same day the magazine’s annual Directory/Buyer’s Guide went on sale.

The growth rate for wineries defied the general economic doldrums and scattered incidents of winery closings. Instead, it paralleled the increase in wine consumption in the United States, which last year became the world’s biggest market for wine.

196 new California wineries
California continues to count the most wineries in North America, rising to a new high of 3,519 this month, as a net gain of 196 wineries materialized. However, less than half of the wineries are in California, and fully 16 states and two Canadian provinces (British Columbia and Ontario) have more than 100 wineries.

The six biggest states for wineries, in order, are: California, Washington, Oregon, New York, Virginia and Texas. With 230 wineries, British Columbia has more than Virginia.

Each of the states has at least two wineries, and even Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have some. Mexico is home to 24 wineries, for a North American total of 7,834.

Most of the wineries with large production are in California, which continues to bottle more than 90% of the nation’s wine. However, many states are now making excellent wines and have developed regional, if not national, customer followings.

Available in digital or print
WinesVinesDATA conducts the winery count continually throughout the year, as just one aspect of the exhaustive market research available in the Wines & Vines Directory/Buyer’s Guide, the Online Marketing System, the Flash Report, the DtC Shipment Model and other proprietary industry research.

The Directory/Buyer’s Guide for 2012 includes more than 850 pages and is available in print and online. Winemakers, wine marketers, grapegrowers, industry suppliers and others use it as a key reference for buying and selling. It contains accurate, comprehensive listings of wineries and vineyards, industry suppliers and industry personnel including job titles, phone numbers, winery production size, varietals made and much more information. The directory is available in digital and/or print format and costs $95 at winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=subscribe.

Data in the directory can also be accessed and manipulated from the database found at winesandvines.com. The public can access much of the data, while some requires a subscription.

Wines & Vines also publishes daily news about wine and the industry on its website.

For more information about the growth of the North American wine industry, contact publisher Chet Klingensmith at chet@winesandvines.com or 415-453-9700, ext., 111 or editor Jim Gordon at jim@winesandvines.com or 415-453-9700, ext., 108.