Wine vs. Beer - The Real Story

At first, I agreed with Alder, that the recent Gallup poll that Americans were preferring wine to beer was a non-story. Though much balleyhooing was made about it, I figured it was just a statistical blip (you know the one about the "two kinds of lies"!). Then I came across real data....not a survey that produced skewed results because people didn't want to admit that they like to kick back with a cold one, but want people to think that they know their Pinot from a hole in the ground.

In 2004, US consumers spent $82 billion on beer, $49 billion on spirits and a paltry $23 billion on wine (note beer outsells spirits & wine combined!). Further, wine was actually ranked third in the Gallup poll among 18-29 year olds, a key demographic that the wine industry has been courting!

Clearly, when you strip away the survey bias, the harsh reality comes through......we have a long way to go.