Gallo said her research shows 30% of Moscato drinkers are the up-and-coming Millennial Generation, an age group the wine industry is starting to put on its radar screen. Overall, 50% of Moscato drinkers are under 45 years of age, Gallo said.
Cheap, sweet and on fire
Most top-selling Moscato’s sell for under $6.50 a bottle and are quite popular in stores around Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago, according to SymphonyIRI Group, which tracks point-of-sales data.
In 2010, total Moscato sales at U.S. food retailers were $105.5 million on 1.6 million cases sold. That’s a huge jump from 2008, when sales were $32 million on 492,105 cases sold, SymphonyIRI data shows.
Gallo, which sells White Moscato under its Barefoot and Gallo Family Vineyards labels, controls 43% of the market, followed by Sutter Home at 27%, according to SymphonyIRI.
It’s been a boon for Barefoot. Its Moscato sales jumped to $31 million last year from $3.3 million in 2008. Over the same period, Sutter Home’s have more than doubled to $37 million and Woodbridge’s have leaped 10-fold to $2 million. Other brands priced between $11 and $20 have seen brisk sales too, such as Beviamo and Saracco, both Italian producers.
Demand is hot for Moscato so far this year. Sales are tracking at 90% above 2010 levels, Symphony IRI said.
”Moscato is on fire,” said Francesca Schuler, chief marketing officer for Treasury Wine Estates /quotes/zigman/4480337 AU:TWE -0.61% , home to Beringer and 53 other wine brands sold worldwide. “We’re making as much as we can.”
Treasury’s latest twist is a Beringer “red moscato” that adds zinfandel and petite syrah for some red and black cherry flavor. Gallo is considering selling a slightly more expensive Moscato under its Mirasui and Echo Domina labels. Those would sell for $9 to $10.
Woodbridge Marketing Director Stephanie Jackel said they intend to take production up to 250,000 cases this year, up from 175,000 a year ago.
Cameron Hughes, whose wine is found at places like Costco /quotes/zigman/67728/quotes/nls/cost COST +1.31% and Safeway /quotes/zigman/240303/quotes/nls/swy SWY +0.88% , hadn’t planned to sell a Moscato until he heard it could be a hit.
“To be honest, Moscato was never really on my list of wines to seek out. Last year, however, one of our big buyers told us they sold boatloads of Moscato and asked if I couldn’t find an ‘ultra-premium’ Moscato for them,” Hughes wrote in a recent email to his customers promoting his Lot 228 2010 Sori Moscato d’Asti. It’s from Piedmont, Italy.
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