Red wine being poured into glass. Credit: New Africa/Shutterstock

US direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine shipments fell in value and volume last year, driven by declines in the sale of lower-priced wines, new research shows

Total shipments slumped 10% to 6.4 million cases, while the value of the sales decreased 5% to $3.94bn, according to a new report from Sovos ShipCompliant and WineBusiness Analytics.

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The declines are “the steepest” on record since reporting started in 2010, the authors of the study said.

A 15% decline in shipments of wines of priced at $40 and under “played a significant role in the channel’s downturn”, the report said. Shipments in this category were also down 11% in 2023. More than half of volumes comes from wines in this price segment.

The growth in the shipments of higher-priced wines slowed, with shipment volume growth of $80+ wines reaching 2%, a drop of three percentage points on the 5% growth seen in 2023.

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Declines were driven most by the largest wineries, with a 18% drop in volume and 7% drop in value for wineries making 500,000+ cases a year.

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However, “2024 left no category untouched”, the report stressed, with wineries of all sizes and all price points across the country being impacted.

DTC was not the only sales channel in the US that saw sales suffer in 2024, the report said, with the off-premise wine market also seeing a dip, “as did most beverage alcohol categories across the board”.

“Unlike earlier years when changes in state laws created spikes in shipments by
opening new DTC markets, wineries can no longer rely on these boosts to
offset declines,” it added.

Despite the negative findings, Los Angeles-based DTC business Full Glass Wine is upbeat about the category’s outlook, with the group having made seven acquisition in the past 17 months.

Speaking recently to Just Drinks, CEO Louis Amroso said he thought there was “a lot of room and potential for growth”, adding “There’s a massive amount here. We anticipate significantly growing market share in 2025.”