The United States is the world’s largest importer of wine, bringing in approximately $5.9 billion worth every year. Annually, the nation consumes around 1 billion gallons. Vine Pair mapped out the states that love wine the most by looking at their total gallons consumed and intake per capita. Their data uses an estimate of the average ethanol content of sold or shipped wine into gallons of pure alcohol before calculating per capita consumption estimates.
Which state drinks the most wine?
California drinks the most by volume and accounts for 81 percent of all wine produced in the U.S. they said in the study. Other heavily populated states that also consumed the most gallons include Florida, Texas, New York, and Illinois.
However, per capita, Washington D.C. and New Hampshire consume the most wine out of every state.
The study also found that regionally, the South drinks the most wine by volume with an annual consumption of approximately 312.7 million gallons. While the West drinks the most wine per capita at about 0.53 gallons.
If you’re wondering how New Jersey compares in terms of wine consumption, they are high on the list. Overall, the state drinks around 34.8 million gallons of wine which places it at number six on the list. When it comes to wine consumed per capita, New Jersey falls at spot number seven.
According to the State of New Jersey’s Department of Agriculture, New Jersey has more than 50 licensed wineries. “One of the most exciting aspects of the industry is the ability to successfully grow many varieties of grapes because of the great conditions,” said their website.
There are more than 40 varieties now growing in the state, from Pinot Noir and Riesling in the North to some of the more popular Italian varieties such as Sangiovese and Barbera in the South.
