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1 0 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | M a r - A p r 2 014 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m for craft beer, craft beer and spir- its are gaining momentum. "Wine glamour is rubbing off on other bev- erages," Fredrikson said, pointing to the rise of beer sommeliers and rockstar mixologists. Crews confirmed that although craft beer represents only about 10% of the total beer market by value, it grew in dollar value by more than 22% in 2013. Spirits – par- ticularly flavored vodkas, whiskey and bourbon – also showed strong growth. (For more on the craft-spir- its trend and how vintners are get- ting in on the action, see our story on page 86.) There's also a healthy crossover between wine drinkers and craft beer and spirits drinkers, which makes wine lovers a target for other beverages. "Many of the reasons people say they love wine – explo- ration, the experience – are also the reasons they say they love craft beer," Crews said. Her assertion was echoed by John Gillespie at the Wine Mar- ket Council's annual conference in January. Of high-end wine buyers questioned in WMC's annual trends survey, 43% said they also drink craft beer. But that doesn't mean that wine is destined to be overtaken by other beverages. As Francesca Schuler of BevMo assured Unified attendees, wine will continue to gain market share if vintners step up innovations in packaging and flavor profiles, and never lose sight of the competition. Salute! I always enjoy the first two months of the year – winter confer- ence season – when the U.S. wine industry gathers to look back at the previous year before forging ahead. During the opening session at the Unified Wine & Grape Sympo- sium in January, Nat diBuduo of Allied Grape Growers predicted (cor- rectly, as it turned out) that Califor- nia's 2013 harvest would be even larger than 2012, and also of good quality. Despite two consecutive record-breaking harvests, he said, there is neither a glut nor a shortage of grapes or wine. "I think we are in balance," he said. According to industry analyst Jon Fredrikson, who also spoke at Unified, U.S. wine ship- ments reached 370 mil- lion cases in 2013 – up 3.6% from the previ- o u s y e a r. " C a l i f o r n i a came back last year," he announced. Liz Crews of Nielsen also had positive news to share. In her presentation at the Midwest Grape & Wine + Craft Brew Conference, held in Missouri in early February, she reported that table wine sales grew 4.5% by value over 2012. Wine is one of the most impor- tant categories in food stores, she added, and the number of retail locations that sell wine increased 3% in 2013. But wait… what's that lurking over wine's shoulder, waiting to pounce? It's craft beer and spirits, of course! Although U.S. per-capita wine consumption is growing and beer consumption is slowing, Fredrikson said, Americans still drink seven times more beer than wine. While wine represented 18% of the total value of beverage alcohol sold in 2012, compared to just 7% Smile, But Look Over Your Shoulder EDITOR'S DESK Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com.