6 Highlights From the 2021 Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping Report

This blog was last updated on September 2, 2021

This January, Sovos ShipCompliant released the 2021 Direct-to-Consumer (DtC) Wine Shipping Report with our partner, Wines Vines Analytics. This report features exclusive data and insights on the state of the industry not tracked or reported on anywhere else. With wine shipments to consumers reaching a record $3.7 billion in 2020, there has never been a better time to understand the evolving trends of the DtC wine channel.

How we get the report numbers

The Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping Report takes shipment data from over 1,100 U.S. wineries’ shipments to consumers each month, totaling more than 40 million shipments over the course of the year. As we gather information, each shipment is edited for submission for governmental tax and reporting requirements, and all elements are validated by standardized tables. The verified data is submitted to a proprietary model built on a database of about 11,000 wineries that is updated monthly by Wines Vines Analytics. 

Highlights from the 2021 report

The DtC report is packed full of data, insights and forecasts regarding the wine industry. The report takes a deep dive into findings including by month, winery region, winery size, varietal, destination of shipments and price to produce the most thorough analysis. Here are some notable takeaways:.

1. 2020 saw a remarkable 27% year-over-year increase in DtC shipment volume, the largest recorded in the report’s 11-year history.
2. 2020 also saw the largest decrease ever in average price per bottle shipped with a 9.5% decline to $36.83.
3. The largest and smallest production wineries enjoyed the greatest increases in volume, with increases of 54.7% and 64.9% respectively. 
4. Shipments of wines priced under $30 per bottle soared, while $100+ wines regressed.
5. Sonoma County extended lead over Napa as the largest source of winery DtC shipments with a 37.6% increase in volume.
6. Non-West Coast wineries outperformed the overall DtC shipping channel with a 34.7% increase in volume of shipments and a 30.6% increase in value of those shipments.